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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27671690">The Windflower Chronicles</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RySenkari/pseuds/RySenkari'>RySenkari</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Elena of Avalor (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure, Elenaomi - Freeform, Elenaomi Week, Elenaomi Week 2020, F/F, Future, Peril, Romance, mermaid au, proposal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:40:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>45,366</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27671690</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RySenkari/pseuds/RySenkari</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for Elenaomi Week 2020, this is an anthology of seven stories focused on the love between Elena, queen of Avalor, and her chancellor Naomi. Follow along as they experience adventure on the open seas, political intrigue at home, and try their best to relax and enjoy each other's company amidst their busy lives.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Elena Castillo Flores/Naomi Turner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Rogue Waves</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The Windflower Chronicles is being written as part of Elenaomi Week! This story, and all the other stories featured in this work, are part of an anthology. While some can be considered in the same continuity, they're not strictly connected or even sequential.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Master of my fate, and captain of my ship...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The warm, salty ocean air, the sound of the waves rolling over the ocean, and the feel of the wooden wheel against her hands... Naomi Turner was at home on the sea, and as the wind blew through the sails of her ship, she was as content as she could possibly be.</p><p> </p><p>“It's a beautiful day...”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi spoke softly, watching as the ship glided through the water, and knew that nothing could be better than this... only one thing could make this day absolutely perfect.</p><p> </p><p>Then she felt a pair of soft arms around her, and now everything was perfect.</p><p> </p><p>“It couldn't be more beautiful,” came the soft voice of Naomi's best friend and now true love, Elena Castillo Flores. Elena was kind, brave, and beautiful, the perfect companion for Naomi, the only person she needed to keep her company out on the vast ocean. The fact that Elena also happened to be Queen of Avalor was important as well, but that didn't matter to Naomi.... all that mattered was that Elena was here and Naomi was in her arms, and everything was going to be just fine.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm glad you're here,” said Naomi, turning her head slightly to give Elena a kiss on the cheek. “I know it's not always easy to get away.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not easy for you either, considering that you're the chancellor,” Elena replied, continuing to hold her arms gently around Naomi as she nuzzled her face into her girlfriend's shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“True, but thanks to your decision to add diplomacy to my list of responsibilities, I get to take the ship out every now and again.”</p><p> </p><p>“That was your idea,” said Elena. “You always have good ideas.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm, true,” replied Naomi, smiling proudly as she continued to steer her ship. “I'm glad it's just the two of us today though... when I'm on my diplomatic missions, I'm usually with Armando...”</p><p> </p><p>It hadn't taken long after Elena had been crowned queen and Naomi had been chosen as the new chancellor for the two young women to realize that their feelings for each other were more than just platonic. There hadn't been some big formal declaration, or anything like that... one night working late, Elena had stolen a kiss from Naomi, and Naomi's reciprocation said more than any confession or love letter possibly could.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>How long?” </em><span>Naomi had asked Elena, after the two had finally stopped kissing.</span></p><p> </p><p>“<em>Since the day we met,” </em><span>replied Elena. The reply had sent Naomi into a brief mental tizzy of recalling every single time the two of them had interacted, wondering how she of the 'best instinct in the kingdom' had missed so many obvious signs, but thankfully, the two had plenty of chances to make up for lost time in the following weeks and months, and even though they tried to maintain their professionalism in public, telling only their closest friends and family about their relationship, the two were much less discreet when they were all alone, and deeply treasured the times when they could truly get away from it all and express their feelings more openly.</span></p><p> </p><p>Today's sailboat excursion was one of those times, and the two planned to spend all day sailing as far as they could out onto the ocean before turning around and returning to Avalor late that night. Naomi could show Elena the wondrous sights of the ocean, and Elena had the chance to relax and let Naomi know just how much she cared about her. Though the ship wasn't the grandest in Avalor's fleet, it was quite large, with a sizable deck and room enough below for a whole contingent of diplomatic escorts and soldiers. With just two young women aboard, it was incredibly roomy, though the two didn't plan to spend much time below deck... there was far too much ocean to see.</p><p> </p><p>“It's so beautiful out here,” said Elena, taking a brief break from hugging Naomi to look over the side of the ship and watch all the fish and marine life swimming by. “I'm still amazed that you gave it up so soon to come back.”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you kidding? I could travel the whole world, but without you, it's just... empty, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi...” said Elena softly, walking back over and placing a hand on her shoulder. “Did you really miss me that much?”</p><p> </p><p>“Every second,” Naomi replied. “Honestly, I should've figured it out then that I had a thing for you... it's just... with you being the crown princess, and me still having feelings for Gabe, I just chalked it up to boredom, not to, you know, romantic longing. Someday though... someday I hope we get enough time to see the whole world, together, just you and me. Going on adventures, saving each other, helping people...”</p><p> </p><p>“I'm sure we will,” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>As the ship continued on its journey, Naomi's face grew slightly troubled as she sighted a distant shoreline and some landmarks that were quite familiar to her but unfamiliar to Elena. She groaned, and started to change course.</p><p> </p><p>“What's wrong, Naomi?”</p><p> </p><p>“I've been having such a good time with you that I didn't realize we were getting close to pirate territory,” said Naomi, as the ship began to turn. “We're near the coast of Pezandri, it's a small and poor country that mostly relies on piracy for its income... they send boats out to raid other boats, stealing treasures and sometimes even holding sailors for ransom.”</p><p> </p><p>“Pezandri's pretty close to Avalor, how come I've never heard of it?”</p><p> </p><p>“Like I said, it's small and poor, people don't really pay much attention to it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well that's terrible...” said Elena, her voice heavy with concern. “Maybe if people paid more attention to it, they might be able to help them out, and they wouldn't have to rely on piracy.”</p><p> </p><p>“Anyway, I've turned the ship and we should be out of the danger zone,” Naomi said.</p><p> </p><p>“That's good... I'm going below deck to grab some snacks, do you want anything?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure... some berries, maybe?”</p><p> </p><p>Elena nodded, and disappeared below deck, while Naomi continued to steer the ship away from potential pirate encounters. As the queen made her way to the kitchen, she couldn't help but think how wonderful the last few months had been... not only was she finally the queen of Avalor, ruling her kingdom with kindness and grace, but she had found the love of her life in a most unexpected place... Naomi was, as she had put it, “just a girl from the port”, but she was also the bravest person Elena had ever known, and she made the challenges and rigors of ruling a kingdom so much more tolerable. As Elena's chancellor, Naomi had helped make decisions that took all of Avalor's people into mind, and helped Elena rule fairly and compassionately. Without Naomi at her side, Elena knew that ruling the kingdom would have been a lot more stressful... second guessing so many decisions, not knowing the whole picture... but with Naomi's perspective, ruling Avalor was a lot easier... and a lot more fun as well.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Naomi was so lonely without me... and I was just as lonely without her. I can't imagine leaving her side again, especially now that I have all of Avalor to rule.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Elena grabbed some berries and bowls from the cupboard, and started to make a fruit salad for herself, while selecting several different varieties of berries for Naomi. She almost imagined feeding her while she steered the ship, though Naomi, like Elena herself, didn't like to be pampered like that, even for fun.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Maybe if I put a strawberry between my teeth and ask her to bite it out... </em>
  <span>thought Elena, her cheeks turning red as she imagined it. </span>
  <em>Mmmm, I wonder if we have any cream?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>As Elena began searching through the drawers, she thought she could hear a slight bumping and scuffling noise from above, but dismissed it as the waves hitting the ship. Even in calm weather, things often got bumpy at sea, and Elena was grateful not to be seasick, as it meant that she could endure long voyages with Naomi... whenever she had the time to get away, of course.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>No cream... oh well, guess this'll have to do.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Elena picked up the two bowls of fruit and headed back up to the deck, walking briskly so as not to keep her lover waiting. As she emerged from down below and looked up toward the ship's wheel, she noticed that Naomi wasn't at her post... and a quick scan of the deck revealed the reason why.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Naomi!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Her friend had been joined on deck by four individuals dressed in tattered clothes consisting of a patchwork of fabrics, with swords and daggers at their sides. Two were women, and two were men, and they appeared to be around Elena and Naomi's ages, perhaps even a bit younger. They were standing around one of the ship's main mast, while Naomi was seated against it, being bound tightly to it with ropes around her chest and wrists, while more ropes were tied around her ankles. She wasn't struggling much as the ropes were tightened, but was simply glaring at the leader of the pirates, a tall woman with long brown hair and a slight scar across one cheek, while protesting the rough treatment she was being given.</p><p> </p><p>“You pirates have no <em>idea </em>who you're messing with,” said Naomi, as the pirate leader leaned down toward her with a wicked smirk.</p><p> </p><p>“And who might that be?” asked the leader, who seemed quite amused that the only resistance she had to deal with was from a single young woman.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm Naomi Turner, and I'm the chancellor of Avalor,” said Naomi fiercely. The pirate leader raised an eyebrow, then laughed and looked at the rest of her crew.</p><p> </p><p>“Ya hear that, folks? We've got a very important person in our custody!” she said.</p><p> </p><p>Naomi's eyes went wide for a moment, as she realized that she probably shouldn't have volunteered that information. She began to struggle again, testing the strong ropes that held her wrists behind her back to the ship's mast.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Whoever these losers are, they're good at rope tying, maybe almost as good as me... </em>
  <span>thought Naomi, a bead of sweat starting to trickle down her face. She couldn't see Elena, and was glad that her friend hadn't made an appearance... as much of a mistake as it had been for her to reveal her own identity, she knew the pirates would be even happier to realize that the Queen of Avalor was on board. </span>
  <em>Elena, just stay down there, don't try anything heroic!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Well, Miss Turner, my name's Alma and I'm the leader of the Ruby Raiders!” said the pirate leader, gesturing to her crew. “And we'll be takin' ya back to Pezandri... I'm sure the chancellor of Avalor will fetch a heavy ransom!”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, they'll be begging us to give you back!” said one of the male pirates, a young man with long, scraggly hair and a red bandanna on his head. “In the meantime, just get comfortable where you are... or don't, I don't care!”</p><p> </p><p>“Nnngh.... there's no way I'm letting you pirates ransom me!” shouted Naomi, kicking her bound legs up and down as she continued to struggle against the mast.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Naomi, I'll get you out of this! </em>
  <span>thought Elena, watching nervously as Naomi continued to taunt and insult the pirates from her seated position. </span>
  <em>I just wish I'd brought my scepter... I just didn't think I'd need it today, and Mateo wanted to test some potions on it! I can't fight four pirates by myself... maybe one or two, but not four! Naomi, just hold on, I'll think of something!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Quit yer strugglin, you're only gonna make us mad!” shouted the other female pirate, pointing her dagger at Naomi in a threatening manner.</p><p> </p><p>“You'd better hope I get out of this and escape, because I don't even want to know what my friends would do if they had to come rescue me! This is your last chance to let me go, before I get really mad!”</p><p> </p><p>“This is your last chance to shut up!” shouted Alma, prompting Naomi to smirk tauntingly at her.</p><p> </p><p>“You planning to make me?” asked Naomi. “You guys are real brave, threatening someone who's already tied up. Even pirates have a code of honor, you four are pretty much amateurs from what I can tell.”</p><p> </p><p>“That does it,” said Alma, looking over at her crew. “Fetch me some of that... that sticky paper stuff we use to patch holes in the boat!”</p><p> </p><p>“You mean this?” asked one of the male pirates, holding up a roll of white tape.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, that!” shouted Alma, snatching it from her subordinate and tearing off a strip. “You should've shut your mouth when you had the chance, now I'm gonna shut it for you!”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh... right,” said Naomi, her eyes widening as Alma leaned toward her with the tape. “I'm warning you, you're in serious- mmmph...!”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi continued to protest even after the tape was pressed over her lips, but her muffled words fell on deaf ears, and simply prompted her pirate captors to laugh at her plight.</p><p> </p><p>“All right then.... Robbie, Marta, go look for any treasure they might have stashed down below. Juan, you keep an eye on the prisoner... I'll steer this ship back to Pezandri.”</p><p> </p><p>“You got it, boss!” said Robbie, as he and the girl with the dagger walked over toward the stairs leading down below deck... where Elena was currently hiding. Naomi shot a worried look over toward that area, but she didn't dare call out, lest she alert the pirates to her friend's presence.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Elena! Not good... </em>
  <span>thought Naomi, continuing to struggle as the pirate with the red bandanna kept an eye on her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“It's useless to struggle, you know...”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Shut up! </em>
  <span>Naomi shouted at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Ha! Imagine, the girl with tape on her mouth telling </span><em>me </em><span>to shut up!”</span></p><p> </p><p>Juan began laughing at his own joke, prompting Naomi to roll her eyes and silently hope that Elena would be all right. Elena backed away from the stairs as Robbie and Marta approached, looking for something she could use to defend herself. She noticed the bowls of fruit she'd set down nearby, and decided to set a trap, tossing the berries out onto the stairs so that the two pirates would slip and fall when they came down. Then, she grabbed one of the now empty bowls and held it up, ready to swing it at the pirates once they fell.</p><p> </p><p>“So what's the chancellor of Avalor doing sailing out on the ocean by herself, anyway?” asked Marta, as she and her fellow pirate started descending the stairs toward the rooms below.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe she's lyin',” said Robbie, his boot coming down on a discarded clump of berries.</p><p> </p><p>“So then what do we do? Take the ship and set her adrift? It is a nice sh-”</p><p> </p><p>Marta let out a scream, and so did Robbie, as the two both stepped on some of the fruit and slid down the wooden stairs with a series of loud thumps. As soon as they hit the ground, Elena was on them, swinging the wooden bowl down hard on Robbie's head. It slammed into his face with a loud thump, and Robbie let out a grunt of pain. Then Elena brought the bowl down on Marta's head.... only for Marta to stick up her dagger, catching the bowl on it and tearing it out of Elena's grasp. As the stunned Elena stepped back, Marta then came forward, pinning Elena against the wall and pointing the dagger at her menacingly.</p><p> </p><p>“Let my friend go!” shouted Elena, surprised that Marta had gotten the best of her, but also determined to rescue Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“Owwwwwwwwwwww!” Robbie whined, rubbing his forehead where Elena had smacked him. “What was that for?”</p><p> </p><p>“What's going on down there?” shouted Alma, leaning her head down the stairway to see Elena struggling with Marta and Robbie rubbing his sore forehead. “Did you find someone else?”</p><p> </p><p>“I said let my friend-” Elena began, before both Marta's dagger and Robbie's cutlass were pointed at her. “....ugh.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena soon found herself marched back up the stairs to join Naomi, who called out to Elena under her gag as the queen was brought over to sit down on the other side of the mast. Robbie was still rubbing his forehead, and was quite annoyed at the ordeal Elena had put him through.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm sorry, Naomi...” said Elena quietly, sounding almost embarrassed that she hadn't been able to save her. “I tried to get the jump on them, but without my scepter...”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It's okay, Elena... </em>
  <span>Naomi tried her best to comfort her friend, looking more upset that Elena was in danger than anything else, before her expression turned to anger as she glared up at Alma and shouted fiercely under the tape. </span>
  <em>Let her go!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“How did you four get on board?” asked Elena. She had briefly looked around for any sign of a pirate ship, but there wasn't a single ship in sight besides the one she and her friend were currently being held hostage on.</p><p> </p><p>“It's down there,” said Alma, pointing over the side of the ship. Elena wasn't able to see it, but there was a small longboat that had been piloted right up beside it, coming up in the ship's blindspot and allowing the four pirates to covertly board. “Of course, we've just upgraded, so thank you very much for your vessel, which we'll be taking back to Pezandri now.”</p><p> </p><p>“You won't get away with this,” said Elena, as she was trussed up by the pirates just like her friend Naomi. Elena knew better than to identify herself as the queen, but had a sinking feeling that her captors already knew exactly who she was.</p><p> </p><p>“We don't need to,” replied Alma. “All we need to do is collect the ransom, even if the people of Avalor know exactly who we are... they'll pay anything we ask to get back their queen.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>They do know, </em>
  <span>thought Elena, bowing her head and sighing. Behind her, Naomi's expression was just as grim.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And now they can get anything they want, </em>
  <span>thought Naomi, looking back over her shoulder at Elena and trying to muffle another apology to her. </span>
  <em>Elena, this is all my fault, I didn't watch where I was steering and I didn't see those pirates coming up alongside the ship! Now you've been captured and I couldn't do anything about it....</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Kidnapping the queen of a sovereign kingdom is an act of war,” said Elena, her eyes narrowed into a fierce glare.</p><p> </p><p>“Pezandri is a tiny country, how would it look for the old, grand kingdom of Avalor to attack a small nation plagued by piracy and poverty? Besides, we're just pirates, you can't blame all of Pezandri for the actions of a band of pirates.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Privateers, </em>
  <span>Naomi muffled under her gag.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“Excuse me?” said Juan, leaning toward Naomi and tauntingly putting his hand to his ear.</p><p> </p><p>“Privateers,” Elena said, speaking for her friend who could not, repeating the definition that Naomi had given her during a prior discussion of Avalor's affairs. “You're 'official' pirates, acting on Pezandri's behalf to plunder and pillage, with the majority of your profits going into the nation's coffers.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ha, we've got a smart queen in our midst!” said Marta with a laugh.</p><p> </p><p>“I don't like smart queens,” said Alma, tearing off a strip of tape. “We're taking you back to Pezandri and Avalor will pay us a huge ransom for you. If they want to start a war afterward, it's no skin off my nose, you can explain to all your other big kingdom friends why you're sending your armies to bully a poor little coastal country.”</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the tape and realizing that this might be her last chance to speak, Elena looked back toward Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, I'm sorry I couldn't save you, I don't blame you for any of- mmmph!”</p><p> </p><p>Elena's frantic words were soon cut off by the tape being pressed over her mouth, and she could soon feel her chin being taken in Alma's hand, gently but firmly, forcing her to look up at the pirate leader.</p><p> </p><p>“I wouldn't try anything either... we've got your chancellor, so if you pull any more stunts-”</p><p> </p><p>“Like smashing a bowl on my head!” shouted Robbie, who was still rubbing his forehead which now had a small bruise and a bump.</p><p> </p><p>“Try anything else, and we might just throw her to the sharks,” Alma continued.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>There aren't any sharks in these waters, </em>
  <span>muffled Naomi, rolling her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It's good to see Naomi still has her positive attitude, </em>
  <span>thought Elena, turning away from Alma's grip to look back at her friend. Naomi looked back at her, and their eyes met, and they were both wearing matching expressions of regret on their face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Elena, I'm sorry I couldn't fight back harder... it was four on one, and they got the jump on me... if I had my lasso...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Naomi, I should've been able to protect you. I couldn't even handle two of them! Some queen I am, I can't even protect the girl I love.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>They tried to reach around the mast to touch each other's hands, but the tight ropes prevented their wrists from moving, and the mast was too thick for them to be able to reach each other. All they could do was sit in silence as the pirates steered the ship back toward Pezandri... they didn't care what happened to the ship, only to each other.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>This day of adventure turned into a nightmare, </em>
  <span>thought Naomi. </span>
  <em>I just hope they don't hurt us. They don't seem like very vicious pirates, and they're pretty young too... maybe even younger than us. I think we'll be fine, but still...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Elena remembered all the previous times she'd been captured during her various adventures with her friends. She and Naomi seemed to have their fair share of trouble... though she couldn't remember a time when they'd both been captured together like this. The ropes didn't seem to budge, and even Naomi hadn't been able to make any progress on getting free. Seeing Naomi so frustrated and upset made Elena feel even sadder, and she hoped that her friend didn't regret bringing them out here...</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Naomi, I wish I could tell you not to worry... even after this pirate attack, I'm still glad I came out here with you today. I don't know how we're gonna get out of this, but I know we will, and I'm going to tell you the first chance I get how much I love you.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Elena tried to smile under the tape, hoping Naomi could see. Naomi looked back and saw Elena's eyes soften, and it brought her some comfort, though not very much.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Elena... I'm glad you're not scared or anything... I mean, maybe you are scared, but you're trying to convince me you're not,, and that means a lot... you really do know how to make a girl feel special.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I love you, </em>
  <span>Elena muffled, hoping Naomi understood.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Hmm?” Naomi blinked, trying to process what she thought Elena might've said to her. Her mind rolled it over for a few moments, and then came the realization. Her own expression softened, and she smiled back. </span><em>I love you too.</em></p><p> </p><p>The two sighed and looked up at the sky, which was darkening as the ship continued to sail.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I hope they keep us together, </em>
  <span>said Naomi. </span>
  <em>I'd be bored to tears if they kept me in some cell by myself.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Think they'll untie us when we get back? </em>
  <span>Elena asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm?” Naomi replied, leaning toward Elena.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I mean, they can't just leave us tied up if they're going to keep us too long. They have to feed us, they have to let us go to the bathroom... ugh, I really hope I don't have to go to the bathroom. Seeing all this water kind of makes me nervous. Also, I'm hungry. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The only word Naomi had recognized from all of that was “hungry”, and she looked at Elena, half smirking and half glaring.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Don't remind me about food, weren't you going to get me a snack when you went down there? </em>
  <span>said Naomi. Elena understood the word “snack”, and from there...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Yeah, I got you some berries but they ended up on the stairs, I was trying to trip up those pirates... it actually worked! They just got up faster than I thought they would. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Elena gestured to Robbie, drawing Naomi's attention to him. Then, with her eyes, and with a series of muffled sounds, she was able to sort of pantomime him falling down the stairs. Naomi snickered, and Elena smirked.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>He must have a really hard head! I can see the bump you gave him! If you had your scepter or even your sword, he would've been toast! And don't get me started on the girl, she looks like a total lightweight. Maybe even wimpier than Carla!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>She kind of looks like Carla, doesn't she?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>No, Carla's way prettier, and way smarter.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Wait 'til I tell Carla you think she's pretty.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“You two are gagged, and you still won't shut up!” shouted Juan, starting to get frustrated as he watched the two captives.</p><p> </p><p>“Can you two even understand each other?” asked Marta. Elena and Naomi looked at each other, then shook their heads and shrugged. “Ugh, I can't wait until we get back to Pezandri...”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Alma!” shouted Robbie, looking up toward the ship's wheel. “When are we getting back?”</p><p> </p><p>“Just shut up and let me steer, the sea's getting rough!” Alma shouted.</p><p> </p><p>Naomi looked up at the sky again... it was even darker now, way too early for the sky to be this dark.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Hey, you're sailing right into a storm! </em>
  <span>shouted Naomi, looking all around to see the waves picking up in intensity as the ship continued sailing toward them. </span>
  <em>You're not even going toward Pezandri, you've got the ship turned around!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Sounds like the chancellor's getting scared,” taunted Marta, as she dismissed Naomi's increasingly worried shouting.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe we should take the tape off,” said Robbie.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe I should put some tape on <em>you</em>,” replied Marta. “You nearly got knocked out by the queen after all!”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but I didn't, did I?” Robbie shouted back.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Naomi, how bad is it? </em>
  <span>asked Elena, looking back at her friend with concern as the ship began to rock from the increasingly choppy waves.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi could feel the wind picking up fast... she could feel the air pressure dropping. The ship was sailing into a bad storm, and from the looks of things, Alma had no idea what she was doing.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>She probably hasn't even piloted a big ship like this before, </em>
  <span>thought Naomi. </span>
  <em>She's used to paddling that little longboat, this is probably the first time her crew's ever taken a vessel like this! She's going to get us all killed!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Hey...!” shouted Alma, feeling herself starting to lose control of the ship's wheel as another large wave rocked the boat. “Come on, this should be easy, it's a sailboat, more wind means more speed right?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>That's not how you steer a sailboat! </em>
  <span>Naomi shouted, struggling at her bonds with more intensity than ever. </span>
  <em>Let me out, I can help you!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“All right, fine, let's hear from the chancellor,” said Alma with a groan. “She was the one sailing this thing after all...”</p><p> </p><p>Marta sighed, then pulled the tape from Naomi's mouth, prompting her to let out a loud yelp as it was peeled back from her soft lips.</p><p> </p><p>“Not so hard!” shouted Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“How do we steer this ship?” asked Alma.</p><p> </p><p>“You need to untie me so I can take over,” said Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“That's not gonna happen,” replied Marta. “Tell us how to steer!”</p><p> </p><p>“I can't just tell you! If you don't know what you're doing, you'll just get turned around!”</p><p> </p><p>“Does she even know how?” asked Juan. “I mean, she's just some stuffy chancellor after all.”</p><p> </p><p>“I was the one sailing the boat before! Your leader <em>just </em>said that!” snapped Naomi, getting increasingly frustrated. “Sail toward the flats, don't try to steer when the waves are hitting the boat!”</p><p> </p><p>“That's stupid, how do you get away from the waves if you don't steer?” said Robbie, scratching his head.</p><p> </p><p>“Turn the ship gently and let the wind take you toward the flat part of the ocean!”</p><p> </p><p>“Let the wind take you, and sink the boat?” said Alma. “That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!”</p><p> </p><p>“Why are you arguing with me?!” screamed Naomi, as another huge wave slammed into the side of the ship and water started to rush over the deck. “I'm trying to save all of you!”</p><p> </p><p>“I don't think we need to hear any more from her,” said Alma.</p><p> </p><p>“What?!” Naomi shouted, her eyes fierce with rage. “You're going to get us all killed!”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Listen to her! </em>
  <span>Elena screamed, struggling as furiously as Naomi. </span>
  <em>She knows what she's doing!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi didn't have the chance to protest again, as the tape was pressed back down over her lips. She shouted again, swearing at her captors and at Alma, sweat and rain pouring down her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Let's hear from the queen,” said Alma. “How do we get out of this storm?”</p><p> </p><p>Marta pulled the tape from Elena's mouth, and Elena had one simple bit of advice to give.</p><p> </p><p>“LISTEN TO NAOMI!” she shrieked, looking up at Alma with more ferocity and anger than she'd displayed toward anyone since she'd learned about Esteban's betrayal. “She's telling you exactly what you need to know, and you're too stupid to follow directions!”</p><p> </p><p>“How dare you!” said Marta, leaning forward to tape Elena's mouth shut again. Elena turned her head away and continued to address Alma, trying her best to calm down and get her to see reason.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi's my chancellor because she has the best instinct in all of Avalor, and she's one of the best sailors too! I trust her with my life!”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, and look where that's gotten you,” said Robbie with a laugh.</p><p> </p><p>Naomi bowed her head... even though she knew those words were false, and that Elena didn't blame her for any of this, they still stung, and deep down she still knew that if she hadn't been so careless in where she'd steered the ship, she and Elena wouldn't be in this situation.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Elena, I know you trust me... that's why I still feel so bad that I let this happen... I just want a chance to get you out of this. I hate that you're the one who has to fight for it.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Please,” begged Elena, whose pleading eyes hid her fury at even having to beg. “Untie Naomi and let her steer us out of this storm. You have me. Let her go.”</p><p> </p><p>Alma's eyes met Elena's, and she knew after only a few seconds of looking that the queen meant what she said. Naomi's instructions might not have made much sense to the pirates, but clearly she was the only one who could get them out of this mess, and they needed to trust her.</p><p> </p><p>“...all right. Cut the chancellor loose. As for the queen...”</p><p> </p><p>Alma stepped down from the wheel and walked over to the mast, gesturing to Marta and Robbie to cut Naomi free. She then leaned down toward Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“We'll make sure she knows exactly what's at stake.”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, I love-” Elena began, before Alma replaced the tape over her mouth. <em>Hey!</em></p><p> </p><p>As Naomi was cut free from her bindings, Elena was untied from the mast, her wrists and ankles still bound as she was taken over to the side of the ship.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, let her go!” shouted Naomi as soon as she was able to peel the tape from her lips. “Why are you doing this?”</p><p> </p><p>The longboat that the pirates had used to board their ship was still secured to the side of it, and Alma roughly dropped Elena down into it, causing the queen to let out a shout as she fell into the bottom of the boat. The longboat was already half filled with water, and was taking a beating from the waves, causing her to roll back and forth inside it as the wind and waves continued to crash against its sides.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena!”</p><p> </p><p>“You'd better hurry and get us out of this storm, before your queen-”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi suddenly grabbed the dagger from Marta and stormed toward Alma. Robbie and Juan both took out their swords and pointed them at Naomi, who didn't even blink as she continued to threaten the pirate leader. Alma simply held up her hands and smiled, knowing that if Naomi stabbed her, she'd lose her chance to save her friend.</p><p> </p><p>“If Elena falls off that boat, you lose your ransom,” said Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“She's, uh... she's actually kinda right,” Robbie replied, briefly lowering his sword.</p><p> </p><p>“I know. But I have a feeling Elena means even more to our friend here than she does to us,” said Alma. Another powerful wave slammed into the ship, and Elena's muffled screams could be heard from below. “So, Miss Turner... what's it gonna be?”</p><p> </p><p>For the briefest of moments, Naomi actually thought about stabbing that dagger right through Alma's heart. Her hand trembled as she gripped it, her knuckles white with rage. This girl... these pirates... they'd hurt Elena, and Naomi was furious with hatred toward each and every single one of them.</p><p> </p><p>But she loved Elena far more than she hated Alma, and without another word, she dropped the dagger to the deck before heading up to the captain's wheel.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Okay, Naomi, this isn't even the worst storm you've been in. Just take the helm and do what you do best. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi began to steer the ship, and almost immediately, the pirates noticed that the ship was turning much less erratically, as the blonde's skilled hands gripped the wheel tight and aimed directly for the flats. Once she'd found her bearing, she used the wind to guide the ship away from the choppier waves, but she wasn't out of the woods just yet, as a much larger wave was coming from just ahead.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you doing?” shouted Alma, watching as Naomi steered directly toward the big wave. “I thought you said not to steer into the waves!”</p><p> </p><p>“I said not to turn into the waves, and I'm not turning this ship an inch!” she shouted, continuing straight forward and hoping that Elena was okay. “Just hang onto something!”</p><p> </p><p>Inside the small longboat, Elena could feel the seas getting calmer, but the commotion from above was making her incredibly nervous. She began trying to slip the ropes off her hands and feet, thinking her wet skin would make it easier, but the tight ropes didn't budge, and Elena found herself being rocked back and forth inside the boat by the still fierce winds.</p><p> </p><p><em>Naomi, I know you know what you're doing... </em>thought Elena, sliding under the wooden seats inside the boat and trying to keep her face above the water. <em>Just get us out of this storm... even if something happens to me, I want you to be safe.</em></p><p> </p><p>The ship started to rise as the wave drew near. Juan and Robbie both let out a scream, and Juan nearly tumbled over the side, with Robbie and Marta just barely being able to hang onto him. The ship continued to rise and twist, and now Robbie and Marta were struggling to hold on.</p><p> </p><p>“You idiots!” screamed Alma, her voice betraying true fear for the first time since she'd boarded the ship with her companions. She looked back at Naomi. “Stop, they're going to fall off!”</p><p> </p><p>“You have to tie them down to something!” Naomi shouted. “They're not used to this kind of weather, they can't keep their balance.”</p><p> </p><p>“You mean tie them up?! I'm not tying them up, that's just what you'd want me to do!”</p><p> </p><p>“It's that or they fall over the side, do whatever you want, I'm trying to save us! Give me some rope, I'll do it myself!”</p><p> </p><p>“You're steering the ship!”</p><p> </p><p>“I can do it from here, trust me!”</p><p> </p><p>Juan, Marta, and Robbie all screamed as the boat rocked again, nearly sending the three of them overboard. In a full panic, Alma grabbed the longest length of rope she could and tossed it to Naomi, who quickly formed a lasso and secured it around the arms and chests of the three pirates, pulling them to safety just in time. She tugged on the rope again, tightening it and pulling the pirates safely over to the mast, then tossed the end of the rope to Alma.</p><p> </p><p>“Tie it off to the mast while I ride this wave!” commanded Naomi. As Alma did what she was told, Naomi steered the ship directly into the large wave. “Elena, I don't know if you can hear me, but hold on!”</p><p> </p><p>The four pirates all screamed as Naomi rode into the wave as it crested, steering the large vessel over the top of it, while inside the longboat, Elena could feel more water splashing over her. She tried desperately to keep her head up, but found herself trapped under the seats of the boat and unable to extricate herself. She gasped and struggled, pushing her nose up above the rising water, only to find herself pushed back down by the force of the wave as it came over the boat. When she was able to lift her head again, she realized that she couldn't get her nose back above the water... the entire longboat was full, and would have capsized were it not secured to the side of the ship. She gasped, and tried to hold her breath.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>No...! Naomi, I'm trapped...!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Elena struggled fiercely, trying again to get the ropes off of her wrists and ankles so that she could push herself out from under the seats. The ropes continued to hold tight, and she started to panic. Meanwhile, back on deck, the seas were much calmer, and the ship was no longer rocking. Naomi looked down to the mast to see the three still tied-up pirates all closing their eyes and shivering, as Alma crouched down shivering right alongside them.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey... you guys can stop cowering now, we're pretty much home free... we're on the edge of the storm now.”</p><p> </p><p>Alma and the other pirates looked around to see that indeed, the waters were much less choppy, and the seas were calm. They were safe... and couldn't help but let out a loud cheer at realizing that Naomi had saved them.</p><p> </p><p>“You... you really did it! I thought we were goners for sure!” said Robbie, looking up at Naomi with gratitude. “You saved us!”</p><p> </p><p>“You really are a great sailor!” said Marta, who squirmed in her ropes for a moment but was mostly just happy to be alive.</p><p> </p><p>“That's what I was <em>trying </em>to tell you,” said Naomi, who then saw Alma going to free her companions. With a smirk, she picked up another length of rope and tossed a lasso around the pirate leader, pinning her arms to her sides and wrapping her up as tightly as the rest of her crew. “And now you're all my prisoners. Serves you right for trying to hold me and Elena for ransom.”</p><p> </p><p>“H....hey!” shouted Alma, who began to struggle as Naomi approached. “You tricked us!”</p><p> </p><p>“No, I <em>saved </em>you,” replied Naomi. “...then I saw a chance to trick you, and I did. So I guess we're both right.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi made sure to bind up Alma even more tightly than the rest of her crew, binding her up in a secure hogtie before picking up a dagger lying nearby to prevent the pirates from using it to free themselves.</p><p> </p><p>“...I guess I can't blame you,” said Alma with a sigh, still looking bitter to have been tricked and captured, but also grateful to Naomi for saving her and her friends from the storm. “...thanks, by the way.”</p><p> </p><p>Alma and the other pirates looked at each other... none of them was happy to have been captured, but all of them were happy to be alive, and Naomi could tell from the looks on their faces that they all genuinely cared about each other.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>You know, in a twisted sort of way, it almost reminds me of me, Gabe, Mateo, and... oh, god, Elena!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi ran to the side of the ship and looked down. The longboat was full of water, and Elena was lying in it, her eyes closed.</p><p> </p><p>“NO!” Naomi screamed, before leaping immediately down into the water next to the longboat and swimming over to it. <em>Elena, no, no, no! Please be okay, please be okay!</em></p><p> </p><p>Naomi lifted Elena's head up from the water and ripped the tape from her mouth, then lifted her out of the boat the rest of the way and laid her down on the partially submerged seats, untying the ropes from her wrists and ankles as she did so. Elena wasn't moving, or breathing, and Naomi reached up to her neck to feel for a pulse.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Elena, I'm so sorry, I couldn't save you, I couldn't stop them, I couldn't do anything-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi's fingers pressed against Elena's neck, and two things happened.</p><p> </p><p>She felt a heartbeat.</p><p> </p><p>And Elena sat up and began to cough out water.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena?”</p><p> </p><p>Elena continued to cough, unable to speak for the first few breaths... then she finally got out enough water that she wasn't coughing when she took a breath, and she turned to Naomi and smiled.</p><p> </p><p>“Looks like you got us to safety, Naomi...”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi was unable to come up with a witty reply, and instead, she leaned into Elena and hugged her tightly, holding her close, not wanting to let her go. Elena returned Naomi's embrace, and the two lovers held each other, not caring that they were soaking wet, only that they were safe and free and together... and no matter what happened, nothing was going to change that.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena, I'm so s-”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi was suddenly silenced again... by Elena's lips pressing against hers. Just as she had done the very first time they kissed, Naomi reciprocated, and Elena deepened the kiss, and the two continued to kiss and hold each other as the raindrops slowly fell onto them and the storm clouds faded to reveal the setting sun.</p><p> </p><p>A few minutes later, the two women had climbed back onto the deck. Alma and the pirates were still just as Naomi had left them, tied up and grateful to be alive... and they all had looks of genuine concern on their faces, looks they'd worn since hearing Naomi's scream of agony upon finding Elena nearly drowned.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena...! Is she all right?” asked Alma.</p><p> </p><p>“She is, no thanks to you,” said Naomi. She walked over to Alma and grabbed the roll of tape out of her pocket, then stretched out a strip and prepared to tear it off. “And I don't want to hear one more word out of your filthy pirate mouths until we get back to Avalor, where all four of you are going to spend the rest of your lives-”</p><p><br/>
“Naomi, wait,” said Elena, placing a staying hand on her friend's shoulder. She looked down at Alma, sternly but with calmness in her eyes. “Alma, you and your crew are under arrest for piracy and kidnapping. You'll be taken back to Avalor, and my chancellor and I will decide your sentence. In the meantime, I have one question for you. ...why? Is Pezandri in such a terrible state that piracy is the only way for the people there to make a living?”</p><p> </p><p>“You should know,” said Marta. “You're right next door and you haven't lifted a finger to help us.”</p><p> </p><p>“Avaloran fishermen take all the fish out of our waters. Avaloran merchants cut sweet trade deals with everybody but us, because we don't have anything worth trading for,” said Robbie.</p><p> </p><p>“It started under Shuriki, and continues under the new queen,” said Alma.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm <em>nothing</em> like Shuriki,” replied Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Neither of you have ever done anything for Pezandri, so in our eyes, you're exactly the same,” Alma continued, her words both sad and bitter. “...go ahead, Naomi, you might as well put that tape on, I've got nothing more to say to your queen.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena and Naomi looked at each other, and Elena's hand started to fall from Naomi's shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Are you okay? </em>
  <span>Naomi's blue eyes glistened with silent concern.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I'll be just fine, but you already know that, </em>
  <span>replied Elena, her expression telling Naomi everything she needed to know.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi looked down at Alma. Then, she tossed the tape aside and knelt down.</p><p> </p><p>“As chancellor of Avalor, I'm also the highest ranking diplomat in the kingdom. You have my word that from this day forward, Pezandri will be given a fair shake by Avalor, and plenty of aid to get back on its feet. In exchange, your leaders have to immediately move to stop all piracy. I don't expect things to change overnight, but change has to start tomorrow.”</p><p> </p><p>“More lies,” said Alma, looking away. Naomi reached forward, gently cupping Alma's chin in the same way she had done to Elena after sealing her lips earlier.</p><p> </p><p>“I already saved you and your friends, what else do I have to do to get you to trust me?”</p><p> </p><p>Alma started to look away, only for Naomi to keep her head in place. Alma looked up and saw in Naomi's eyes genuine sincerity... and even the start of genuine forgiveness.</p><p> </p><p>“I almost killed your queen... your... lover, and you're already forgiving me?” asked Alma.</p><p> </p><p>“Not <em>quite</em>,” replied Naomi. “...but let's just say that if you hadn't tried to drown Elena, I'd be smiling at you right now.”</p><p> </p><p>“Pretty easy to smile at a bunch of people you tricked and tied up,” said Marta.</p><p> </p><p>“Yep, it really is!” said Naomi, standing up and finally smiling again. “Elena, does that deal sound agreeable to you?”</p><p> </p><p>“It sounds just fine to me, if the people of Pezandri really are ready to end their piracy,” said Elena. “In the meantime, you four can stay right here, and Naomi and I will get this ship back to Avalor.”</p><p> </p><p>As the four pirates remained trapped and contemplated everything Elena and Naomi had said to them, the queen and her chancellor returned to the ship's wheel, and Naomi started to steer the vessel back home to Avalor. It would most likely be a few hours before they'd make it back, but in the meantime, they'd have each other as company... and despite their brush with death, they both felt pretty good about the adventure they'd had that day.</p><p> </p><p>“So, are you still ready to lock them up and throw away the key?” asked Elena, hoping her friend wasn't still too upset about everything that had happened.</p><p> </p><p>“As your chancellor, I'm officially recommending leniency,” replied Naomi. She wasn't quite as forgiving as Elena, and was still a bit upset that Alma's actions had nearly drowned the woman she loved, but these pirates were young, and hopefully Avalor's improved relations with Pezandri would set the nation's pirates on the right path. “Maybe some community service swabbing the decks on mom's ship could teach them some things about hard work and how to treat others... and if we're really lucky, they'll learn how to sail.”</p><p> </p><p>The two shared a laugh, and once again, Naomi found herself tightly wrapped in Elena's arms, watching the sunset over the ocean as the ship sailed over the newly calmed waves back toward the palace... back toward home.</p><p> </p><p>“...how many times have you saved my life, Naomi?”</p><p> </p><p>“...five, maybe?”</p><p> </p><p>“I'm thinking more like seven or eight.”</p><p> </p><p>“What can I say, I have a thing for rescuing damsels in distress,” said Naomi, nuzzling her face against Elena's shoulder as Elena gently took her hand. “Or maybe just rescuing you.”</p><p> </p><p>“I'm not the kind of queen who likes needing to be rescued... but if it's you... it's okay,” said Elena, gripping Naomi's hand even tighter.</p><p> </p><p>Naomi had to admit, she was of two minds about today. On the one hand, seeing Elena nearly drowned in that boat was the scariest thing she'd ever gone through, and part of her never wanted to see Elena in danger again. Holding Elena in her arms, thinking she had died... it was the worst Naomi had ever felt, and she couldn't imagine what might've happened if she'd gotten there just a minute later.</p><p> </p><p>On the other hand, being Elena's protector was the greatest feeling Naomi had ever experienced. She knew Elena could protect herself, she could protect all of Avalor, she was the strongest and bravest person Naomi had ever known... but coming to her rescue, seeing the look of relief and joy in her eyes, and holding her close...it brought her an unimaginable rush of adrenaline, the same thing she felt when she was sailing on the open ocean. Naomi loved adventure, and protecting Elena, her queen, the love of her life, was the greatest adventure of all.</p><p> </p><p>And she knew there would be more adventures, more close calls, more rescues. Maybe Elena would save her... Naomi enjoyed that feeling too.</p><p> </p><p>But the feeling she enjoyed just as much, if not more, than going on adventures with Elena and the two of them saving each other... was being safe and warm in her arms, just like they were right now.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Maybe I'll save her. Maybe she'll save me. Maybe we'll never need saving again.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, I love you...”</p><p> </p><p>“Elena... I love you too.”</p><p> </p><p>Their lips met, and as the last of the sunlight faded over the horizon, the two embraced, locked in passion, bound by love.</p><p> </p><p>And as one adventure ended, they were ready for another.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Catch Of A Lifetime</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The Windflower Chronicles is being written as part of Elenaomi Week! This story, and all the other stories featured in this work, are part of an anthology. While some can be considered in the same continuity, they're not strictly connected or even sequential.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The stillness of the open sea usually calmed Naomi Turner's heart, but on a day like today, only sadness accompanied the young sailor's journey. It had been three years since the death of her father left her alone in the world, her only source of income being what she could pull from the water... and the sea had not been kind.</p><p> </p><p>She sat against the side of her boat, glancing at the net that dangled into the water. Most days, she only managed to pull up a few useful things. Some fish, lots of trash, never anything valuable, never anything that would stave off bankruptcy... and this boat was the last thing she had left.</p><p> </p><p>“If only I could sail without having to worry about paying the bills,” Naomi sighed. She loved the ocean, she wanted more than anything to sail the waves just as her mother, the legendary Captain Scarlett Turner, had done. She didn't even like to fish, she just wanted to sail... but she didn't even own the boat she was sailing in. Her mother had owned the boat... and thousands of doubloons in debt, debt that Naomi could never hope to pay. She'd been able to hold off the creditors for the past few years, but since her father's death, she'd had to take up the burden of paying off those debts... and had failed to do so. “If I don't catch something valuable today, that's it... I lose my boat... I lose everything.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi stood up and walked over to the net. She hoisted it up out of the water... there were three small fish flopping around inside, but nothing else. She sighed.</p><p> </p><p>“That's enough for supper, I guess,” said Naomi, pulling the fish out of the net and dropping them onto the deck. She watched them flop around for a few moments, gasping for air, and drew her knife from her belt... but didn't have the heart to stab it into them. Most days, she would have, but those fish flopping around reminded her of herself, and instead of gutting them for her meal, she picked them up and dropped them back into the ocean. “Looks like it's your lucky day... I just wish it was mine.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi dropped the net back beneath the water. She looked up and watched as the sun began to set. This was probably the last chance she had... if she didn't catch something big, this would be the last time she'd get to watch the sunset as captain of her own ship. Her stomach was growling, but she cast her hunger pains aside and sat back down, waiting for the inevitable disappointment of another day without a big catch.</p><p> </p><p>“Guess I'll just enjoy the sunset,” Naomi said to herself, bowing her head. She wiped away a tear that came to her eye, thinking that not only was she about to lose her mother's beloved ship, but she'd failed her as well. <em>Mom, I'm sorry. I'll never be as good a captain as you were... I lost everything you left me. I don't deserve to be a captain.</em></p><p> </p><p>Naomi could then see out of the corner of her eye that her net was shaking, and rather vigorously at that. She'd seen this a couple times before, and both of those times it was because she'd snagged it on a big piece of driftwood... the second time she'd done that, the net had gotten torn and she'd had to replace it. However, the net was still wriggling as Naomi walked over, even after the ship had been sailing for several seconds. Something was inside it... something alive... something big!</p><p> </p><p>“What if it's a shark?” said Naomi, walking over cautiously. “Shark fins and skins bring in big bucks, not to mention the teeth... it'll keep the creditors away a few weeks at least!”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi began to pull up the net, careful to hold it far enough away that she wouldn't get bitten. However, instead of a shark fin, she saw a ruby red tail flopping wildly back and forth. It was shimmering like a jewel... maybe the most beautiful thing Naomi had ever seen. As she continued to lift it up, however, the ruby red color of the tail slowly faded to reveal brown skin and ornate jewelry.... then, what looked like a silken swimsuit top... and then... a human-looking face.</p><p> </p><p>“Let me go!” shouted the creature inside the net, continuing to wriggle wildly. Naomi gasped, dropping the net and its wriggling occupant onto the deck.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It... can't be! </em>
  <span>thought Naomi, placing her hand to her mouth. The creature was a young woman... the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, with long black hair done up in a ponytail. Above her waist, she appeared human, but below was that ruby red tail in place of legs. </span>
  <em>A... a Sirena!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi knew that Sirenas were real, but she never imagined she'd find a real live one, especially not after the conflict between the creatures and humans that had ended seven years ago. The last she'd heard of Sirenas, they'd been banished to the most distant seas, but here one was in the flesh... and an absolutely beautiful Sirena at that.</p><p> </p><p>“You need to get this net off me right now!” shouted the Sirena, her tail starting to push its way out of the net. “Release me at once, or you'll be sorry!”</p><p> </p><p>For a few moments, Naomi was stunned, not knowing what to do next. Then, she sprung into action. She grabbed her trusty lasso and secured it around the end of the net, then tightened it, pulling it closed around the Sirena's tail.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey!” the Sirena shouted as the net was pulled tightly around her. Her tail continued to flop, but as the lasso squeezed around it, she grimaced in pain and her struggles grew much more futile. “That hurts, what are you doing?”</p><p> </p><p>“What does it look like? I'm capturing you,” said Naomi, who then tossed the other end of the lasso around a wooden overhang dangling above the deck of the ship. With a strong tug of the rope, the captive Sirena was hoisted up into the air, dangling upside down from her tail, trapped securely inside Naomi's net. “I thought you were a shark at first, but a Sirena? Do you have any idea how much the king will pay for a live Sirena?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, in fact, I do,” she replied, glaring at Naomi as she continued to wriggle back and forth. “And you can't do this to me! I'm not just any Sirena, I'm Elena, the Queen of the Sirenas!”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi's eyes grew wide with surprise, and she took a moment to mull this fact over... then her smirk grew even wider.</p><p> </p><p>“The Queen of the Sirenas? So in other words, you're the best Sirena of all, right?”</p><p> </p><p>“No one Sirena is better than any other Sirena, but I <em>am </em>the ruler, so that makes me very important, yes,” Elena told her. “You have to let me go, my people need me!”</p><p> </p><p>“And I need you more,” said Naomi excitedly. “Once I turn you in, the king will pay me whatever I want... I'll never have to catch fish again! I can just sail the seventeen seas, living my dream and doing whatever I want for the rest of my life!”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you even listening to yourself right now?” asked Elena, whose struggles had slowed somewhat as she realized that she wouldn't be able to break out of the net, and instead decided to try and reason with her captor. “I'm not some fish, I'm a Sirena... I'm a person! You can't just capture a person for money!”</p><p> </p><p>“Sirenas aren't people, they're dangerous monsters who take the appearance of people to lure them into traps,” said Naomi, her voice lined with a hint of bitterness as she spoke. Elena gasped, both offended and genuinely hurt by Naomi's words, but Naomi continued, undeterred by the Sirena queen's reaction. “I know all about your 'people'. They sunk countless ships and doomed thousands of innocent humans to the depths of the sea!”</p><p> </p><p>“...yes, we did do that,” said Elena, looking away slightly. “But humans attacked Sirenas as well, they slaughtered us by the thousands... we were only defending ourselves!”</p><p> </p><p>“Liar!” Naomi shouted back, her voice rising with her anger. “You enjoyed it, I've heard the stories of groups of Sirenas taunting humans as they drowned, laughing at them as they lured them to their graves! And you're the queen, so that makes you responsible for every single human life your people have taken.”</p><p> </p><p>“I wasn't the queen back then,” replied Elena. “I only became the queen a few years ago, after the conflict, after my parents were....”</p><p> </p><p>Elena sighed, looking back at Naomi, who was still furiously staring at her.</p><p> </p><p>“Please, think about what you're doing,” Elena pleaded, still trying to reason with the young sailor. “This isn't worth it, even for all the money in the world.”</p><p> </p><p>“Says the queen of the Sirenas, who probably has all the money and treasures and jewels she could ever want. I have <em>nothing</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena continued to sway in the light wind as the ship sailed in the direction of the Avaloran coast, where Naomi would be able to bring her to shore, delivering her to the king and a life of having her Sirena powers drained, most likely painfully. She tried struggling again, but the net was tight and strong, strong enough to keep a great white shark or even an orca trapped, and Elena, for all her powers, was only a Sirena, not much stronger than a human, especially out of the sea. Naomi tried not to look at her, not just because she didn't want to talk to a Sirena, but because this particular Sirena was beautiful... easily the most beautiful woman Naomi had ever laid eyes on. She'd never thought about romance very much, her mother's death when Naomi was just 12 had re-directed her focus to more important things, like keeping the family legacy alive. She'd noticed both boys and girls, and once had even flirted with a beautiful noble girl who'd come visiting the port, but the girl had sternly rebuked Naomi, telling her that she 'stank like the ocean', and that rejection had pretty much turned Naomi off entirely from romance, to the point where she tried not to even look at anyone who she thought she might like. She enjoyed the solitude of the sea, and she hoped that once she turned Elena over to the sea, she'd never have to deal with another human being or Sirena again.</p><p> </p><p>“What's your name?” asked Elena suddenly.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh?” Naomi replied, not even turning her head.</p><p> </p><p>“I just want to know what your name is, that's all.”</p><p> </p><p>“What do you care? It's not like we're even going to get to know each other,” Naomi said bitterly. <em>I'm onto you. You're trying to get close to me, trying to make me feel sorry for you. It's not going to work.</em></p><p> </p><p>“...before I'm locked away, I just wanted to know the name of the last person I might ever get to talk to, that's all,” said Elena, more sad than angry, and sounding genuinely interested in who Naomi was.</p><p> </p><p>“...it's Naomi. Naomi Turner.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi didn't know why she'd felt compelled to give her name to Elena. She dismissed it as the effects of some Sirena mind softening spell, though Elena didn't possess such powers, and even if she did, she'd never have used them to influence the mind of a human. Elena seemed to recognize that name for a moment, and her mind began to flood with emotions. Naomi looked back and could see the conflict in Elena's face.</p><p> </p><p>“Does that name mean anything to you?” asked Naomi, looking back at Elena with a hint of curiosity.</p><p> </p><p>“It's... nice to meet you, Naomi,” replied Elena, managing a slight smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Even if I'm the one who's going to turn you over to the King of Avalor and trap you forever?”</p><p> </p><p>Elena sighed. She knew she didn't have much chance of convincing Naomi to let her go, but she still wanted to know just why Naomi was doing this, even if it wouldn't change anything.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, before when you said you had nothing, what did you mean?”</p><p> </p><p>“I meant exactly what I said. All I have is this boat that my mom left me after she died. I started sailing, trying to become a great sea captain like her. My dad worked on the shore, I learned to sail... tried to catch fish, transport goods, tried to make money to pay off mom's debts. We were able to tread water for a while...” Naomi's voice trailed off, as if she didn't want to speak about what happened next. Elena asked her anyway.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened?”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi sighed, but continued her story. Even if she was talking to a Sirena, someone she didn't even care about, it was nice to get to tell this story to somebody, and Elena seemed as receptive to it as anyone.</p><p> </p><p>“Then a plague hit. A bad one. Dad died... he was the one bringing in most of the money, so after losing him, I lost... almost everything else. I had to sell everything just to keep making payments on this boat, but the debt was so big that I couldn't keep up... now, I owe a ton of money tomorrow or they'll take the boat too and I'll be left with absolutely nothing. I'll have to go back to Avalor, go back to the harbor... work down at the docks hauling cargo, and failing that...”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi shuddered, imagining her only other alternative for making money in Avalor, and it wouldn't be pleasant. She held her arms tightly to her chest, and looked down sadly. She wanted to cry, but wouldn't dare do it in front of Elena. She didn't want to get attached to the Sirena, and she definitely didn't want the Sirena getting attached to her.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm sorry,” said Elena, who would have reached out to touch Naomi's shoulder had her arms not been trapped inside the net. She could see the genuine sadness on Naomi's face, and despite her slight rugged appearance, Elena could see the beauty in her features as well. Her eyes, despite everything she'd been through, shone with the light of courage and optimism, even in the face of oppressive poverty. She was a proud young woman who didn't want to give up her life of freedom and independence on the sea for one of menial labor. Elena felt genuinely terrible for Naomi, despite all of her cruel words and despite the fact that she didn't seem to mind turning her over to the king. She wanted to comfort her, but she didn't know how. “I... I lost my parents too, you know.”</p><p> </p><p>“Serves them right for starting the war,” said Naomi, turning and glaring fiercely at Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“How dare you!” Elena replied, horrified that Naomi would imply that her parents deserved their deaths.</p><p> </p><p>“How dare <em>I</em>?” Naomi shouted, standing up and walking toward the net. “My mother was murdered by Sirenas! They surrounded and sank her boat, killing her and her entire crew! And I was supposed to be on that boat with her, but I backed out at the last minute so I could help my dad with his work, or I would have been killed too!”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi had tried to hold her tears back before, but now they were rushing to her eyes, and she couldn't stop crying as she continued to jab her finger at Elena, poking her several times as Elena squirmed inside the net.</p><p> </p><p>“Your people started the war, don't lie and say they didn't! Sirenas wanted the ocean for themselves, so they attacked every boat that came through to try and scare us off! You lost because there are more of us with more powerful weapons and you were forced to the darkest oceans, which is exactly where you belong! All you do is hurt people, just like my mom and just like me! I lost <em>EVERYTHING </em>because of you! And now, you're going to lose everything too! I don't care what the king does to you, because as far as I'm concerned, you deserve everything you get!”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi was shaking with rage and grief by the time she finished her rant. Her eyes were gushing tears, and her hand was barely able to move without trembling. Elena watched as Naomi spoke, and though she wanted to react with anger to her captor's hateful words, she found herself wanting only to comfort her... wanting to forgive her, having learned the value of forgiveness after she herself had harbored hatred for humans because of what they had done to her parents. She couldn't respond to Naomi's speech... there wasn't anything she could say.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I know it isn't right for Naomi to feel this way about the Sirenas... it was humans who started the war, wanting our powers and wanting to clear us out of our own territory. We had come to them in peace, and they attacked us... in fact, my parents were killed by one of the humans and her crew...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>But Elena's heart went out to Naomi... she was as concerned for Naomi as she was for herself. Whatever hateful feelings Naomi had for the Sirenas stemmed from events that took place long before she could even do anything about them. Alone on the sea, alone with her thoughts, Naomi had been consumed by her grief, with no one to comfort her or teach her differently... and Elena didn't know what she could do for her other than try and listen.</p><p> </p><p>And as Naomi sobbed, she looked back at Elena and saw the concern and sadness etched on her face. She sniffled, and wanted to yell at her some more, or at least shout 'what are you looking at?', but whenever she tried to speak, she got choked up again.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>What am I doing? </em>
  <span>thought Naomi, looking down at her shaking hands. </span>
  <em>What happened to mom wasn't Elena's fault, was it? Mom died seven years ago, Elena's... barely older than me, right? Do Sirenas even age the same as human beings?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi thought about what she'd said, then she remembered her dad... her dad, who never blamed the Sirenas for Scarlett's death.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dad said not to be bitter. Dad said not to hate the Sirenas, that it was way more complicated than what everyone had told me. I almost believed him... then he died. Then I was alone.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi looked at Elena again.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi...” said Elena softly.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I'm still alone.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi could see out in the distance the looming landmass of Avalor, and the shore of Avalor City.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>We're almost there.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, I'm so sorry about your parents. I know you don't believe me, but it's true. I'd give anything to bring them back. It hurt so much to lose my parents and I wouldn't wish that on <em>anyone </em>else.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi looked back out toward the city, its lights gleaming in the setting sun. She felt the wind in her hair and the ocean spray on her face, and she knew what she had to do.</p><p> </p><p>“I know it wasn't your fault that mom died,” said Naomi, wiping the tears from her face. “But if I don't turn you in, I'll never be able to sail on the ocean again.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi swallowed, choking back a sob. She remembered what she'd just said to Elena, and she could hear her dad scolding her. She could hear her own inner voice scolding her.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Before the war, mom was a noble, honorable captain. She would've agreed with dad about the Sirenas. Then came the war, and she lost so many friends... she was hurting every day, just like I was. And... it doesn't justify what she did... or how I feel.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Elena could see the shoreline approaching as well, and she trembled in fear, feeling her freedom slipping away. She was afraid... she'd been so caught up in her concern for Naomi that she'd forgotten how scared she was of the idea of becoming a prisoner of the humans, of being locked up in some tank for the rest of her life, all alone. She'd lose her people, she'd lose her home... and she too shed a tear, a tear that Naomi could see falling from Elena's eye as she turned to face her.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm sorry about what I said before,” said Naomi. “And I'm sorry for doing this. I really am.”</p><p> </p><p>“I... I really wish you wouldn't,” Elena replied, allowing her fear and sadness to show.</p><p> </p><p>“I don't have a choice.”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course you do.”</p><p> </p><p>“If I don't turn you in, I'll lose the last thing I have from my mom! This ship... my freedom!”<br/><br/></p><p>“What about <em>my </em>freedom?!”</p><p> </p><p>Elena was right... Naomi knew it, and clutched her hand to her chest again. She tried to fight the thoughts away, tried to imagine the riches she'd have once this was over... a life of sailing the seventeen seas, just like her mother, a chance to live up to her mother's legacy.</p><p> </p><p>She could still hear her voice, and see her face... Scarlett Turner, holding young Naomi in her arms, telling her stories of the sea, of all the wonderful sights and places and people.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I'm doing this for you, mom... so I can carry on your legacy. I know imprisoning the queen of the Sirenas isn't the most noble thing to do, but you did your fair share of morally dubious things in the war...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi remembered her mother's stories from the war, the ones later in her mother's life. She tried to hide the grim details from her daughter, but one night, she overheard Scarlett retelling a particularly sad tale of how she'd been ordered to fire upon a Sirena gathering, one of great importance... it was thought to be a war council, but had actually been a sacred ceremony... one headed by the king and queen.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>My mother... killed Elena's parents.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi's heart dropped to her stomach, and she clutched her chest even tighter. She looked at Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Did you know?” she asked, almost in a whisper.</p><p> </p><p>“Know what?” Elena replied.</p><p> </p><p>Naomi didn't want to say it, or even think it... didn't want to cause Elena even more grief than she was already feeling. Losing her freedom was bad enough... losing the chance to avenge her parents might be more pain than she could bear.</p><p> </p><p>And as Naomi hesitated, Elena knew what Naomi had just come to realize.</p><p> </p><p>“I did,” said Elena, causing Naomi to let out a quiet gasp.</p><p> </p><p>“You <em>knew</em>? You knew that my mom killed your parents?”</p><p> </p><p>“I knew from the moment you said your name...” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“You knew, and you didn't say anything? You knew, and you're not furious with me?”</p><p> </p><p>“I used to be, a long time ago. But then I realized that I had to forgive her... not for her sake, or your sake, but for mine. Once I forgave her, I was able to move on. Once I forgave her... forgave humans, I could heal. I just wish I could heal you.”</p><p> </p><p>“...why?” asked Naomi, wiping another tear from her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Because you're still hurting,” replied Elena. “And I don't think that money that the king's going to give you for me will help... but I hope it does, because then at least I'll know that losing my freedom meant something.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi could hear Elena getting almost as choked up as she was, and was stunned into silence, unable to do anything but stand there looking at her and wondering how she could ever be so forgiving that she wasn't even upset anymore about the death of her own parents, at least not upset enough to be angry anymore. Naomi still felt the bitterness of her mother's death, but Elena was calm, kind, and brave in the face of what was about to happen to her. She felt more tears come down her cheeks, and didn't bother to wipe them away. She looked back out toward the shore, as Avalor City continued to get closer and closer. Then, she turned back to Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“I... I....”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi took out her knife and reached up, cutting the rope that held the net that kept Elena dangling from the pole. The net fell, and Elena fell with it, and Naomi began to cut the net as well, until Elena was entirely free. Elena lay there on the deck of the boat, stunned with Naomi's sudden change of heart, while Naomi stood before her, knife still in hand, not knowing whether to be proud of herself or aghast at having given up her final chance to keep sailing.</p><p> </p><p>“...go,” said Naomi, turning away and dropping her knife. “Swim away, swim back home as fast as you can, before I change my mind...”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi sighed. She wouldn't change her mind, even if she could. She knew she had no right to trap Elena... she never should have strung her up in the first place. She was going to lose her ship, her freedom, her chance to build on her mother's legacy... but she had done the right thing, even if no one but Elena would ever know.</p><p> </p><p>And when Naomi heard a loud splash behind her, she knew she'd never see Elena again.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Guess that's it then, </em>
  <span>thought Naomi to herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Naomi!” shouted Elena's voice from beside the boat. Naomi turned and saw Elena floating there, looking up at her.</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>What are you doing?” Naomi shouted, pointing at Avalor City. “We're really close to land, there are probably tons of sailors out here who aren't nearly as nice as I am! You need to go! I have to go too, maybe I can steal some drunk guy's change and have enough to keep the boat a few more days!”</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>Naomi, what are you going to do?” asked Elena, not deterred by the young woman's warnings.</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>I already told you!”</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>No, I mean what are you going to do, is there anything else for you here?” Elena asked, still looking up at her.</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>....you know the answer is no!”</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>...then why not come with me?”</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>What?”</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>Turn the ship around and sail out with me and I'll show you!”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naomi sighed. She'd already thought of taking the ship and running as fast as she could, but the people who owned her debt used pirates to collect, and they tended to collect with interest. When, not if, but </span>
  <em>when </em>
  <span>they found her, they wouldn't just take back the ship, they'd take Naomi too. She was brave enough to try running, but she wasn't stupid enough.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>If I don't come up with the money by tomorrow, and I don't bring back the ship-”</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>Just sail out with me, you can go back to Avalor as soon as I show you!”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Naomi shrugged... this had all the makings of a Sirena trap, the ones they'd used so often to lure human ships to their doom... but she also didn't have anything to lose, so she decided to turn her ship around and follow Elena. She sailed out with her for several hours, under the stars and the moon, enjoying the night air and also enjoying the view as she watched Elena gracefully skim across the water's surface. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>She really is beautiful... </em>
  <span>thought Naomi, before quickly dismissing any such thoughts. </span>
  <em>What am I thinking? She's the Queen of the Sirenas and I'm just a failed sailor... and besides, I tried to capture her and I said all those horrible things... she'd never go for me... and I'm a human, too. Humans and Sirenas can't.... can't be together.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Elena stopped, and Naomi took the sails back down and slowed her ship.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait here, I think what I need is right below...”</p><p> </p><p>Then, Elena dipped under the water and disappeared. Naomi ran to the side of the ship and looked for her, but saw nothing. Once again, her mind drifted to the thought that this might be a trap and that dozens of Sirenas were about to come out and sink the boat, but she scolded herself for imagining such things, and made herself a promise that she'd try her best to keep.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>From now on, no more bad thoughts about Sirenas. I was wrong to hate them before, and that stops right now. Elena forgave me after everything, and I didn't deserve it. I can never repay her for that... and I have nothing to give.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi waited, and waited, and waited for what seemed like forever... and in the meantime, she took one last look at her ship... her beautiful ship, her mother's legacy... which was about to become property of the scoundrels who'd trapped her mother beneath tons of crushing debt.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>If I should hate anyone, it's the bastards who shackled my mother to all that debt. She never would have taken those Sirena hunting missions otherwise. She was wrong to take them regardless, but I can still hate them for twisting her into what she became before she died.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Just as Naomi started to ruminate on the sadness of losing her ship, and just as a tear formed in her eye, Elena came back up from the water. She was holding what looked to be a large clump of some plant-like substance, which almost looked like a blanket in her hands.</p><p> </p><p>“What is that?” asked Naomi. She wondered if the plant might be something she could sell to get the money to pay for her ship, and began to feel guilty... even if she desperately wanted and needed the money, she felt awful taking it from someone she'd been so cruel to. “If it's a gift, I don't deserve it.”</p><p> </p><p>“It is a gift, and I don't care whether or not you deserve it, I want to give it to you... that's what friends do.”</p><p> </p><p>“Friends?” said Naomi, her voice trembling slightly. <em>I haven't had a real friend since dad died...</em></p><p> </p><p>“If you want to be,” replied Elena with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>“I... I do,” said Naomi, her voice breaking slightly. Another tear slid down her face. “Is that to pay for the ship?”</p><p> </p><p>“No,” replied Elena, “though I could give you some pearls that would bring in enough to pay for it if that's what you want.”</p><p> </p><p>“...what is it?”</p><p> </p><p>“This... this is Maligras. It can turn a human into a Sirena... it would allow you to live underwater and come live in my kingdom.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi was taken aback by Elena's offer. Become... a Sirena? She wasn't sure... how could anyone be sure?</p><p> </p><p>“It would change you permanently and completely... you wouldn't be able to return to your old life as a human. You wouldn't be able to go back to Avalor, or even sail again. It would be a big change... you'd be giving up a lot.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I'd be giving up on mom's dream... </em>
  <span>thought Naomi. </span>
  <em>I could take the pearls instead, pay off the boat and live free... but I'd still be alone. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>No one had ever been as kind or as generous to Naomi as Elena had been, at least not since her parents had died. No one had ever shown her such forgiveness or compassion. She'd had friends before, but none as caring as Elena, and the connection she felt to her was so strong for someone she'd only just met that day.</p><p> </p><p>“But you would always have a home at my palace, and you'd have plenty of room to swim and explore. You could have adventures untold beneath the sea, and I could introduce you to so many people. Naomi, the truth is... even though you captured me and tried to take me back to give to your king, I could see a spark of bravery and kindness in you. It was hidden under all of that sadness and bitterness, but when you had to make a decision, you made the right one, and I felt your true spirit shining through. I want to get to know you better... I know we've only known each other for a day, but I have a feeling that we can be friends for the rest of our lives. I've never felt this kind of connection with anyone before... but it's entirely up to you.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi could clearly hear the affection in Elena's voice, and though Elena had only mentioned the word 'friend', she could tell that there might just be the potential for something more, if Elena felt the same way about Naomi that Naomi was rapidly starting to feel about her. She felt her heart beating so fast, but whether that was nervousness about abandoning her old life as a human, or whether that was her connection to Elena growing by the second, she couldn't tell... but knew what she desperately wanted it to be.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena, I'm not sure...”</p><p> </p><p>“I'm sorry to put you on the spot like this, asking you to abandon your life as a human and come live with me...”</p><p> </p><p>Elena too wasn't entirely sure about any of this... this human who'd tried to capture her, now making her a Sirena and bringing her back to live in the royal palace? This human whose mother had killed her parents? Was she just making a fool of herself, falling in love with the first human she'd seen? She wasn't sure either, but she was taking a leap of faith... and hoping with everything she had that Naomi would make the leap with her.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena... I.... I'll do it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then come into the water with me,” said Elena, reaching out her hand.</p><p> </p><p>Naomi looked up into the sky, the starry sky above, looking at the stars and the moon just as she and her parents had done when she was little.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Mom... dad... this isn't the dream you had for me, and before today, it isn't the dream I had for myself... but I've been so lonely without you, and now here's someone I feel a real connection to. She forgave me... she trusts me, and I'm going to trust her.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And maybe, someday, I'll even love her.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi leapt into the water, and swam over and took Elena's hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Close your eyes, and float on your back,” said Elena. Naomi did so, and Elena gently wrapped the Maligras around her. It began to glow, and Naomi could feel her body transforming.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It feels like a dream... but I don't want to wake up.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>When Naomi opened her eyes again, she was being pulled gently under the water by Elena. Instinctively, she took a breath... and the water felt like air. She looked down, and could see a tail where her legs used to be. Even her clothing had transformed, into a top made of a soft, scaly material, a bit less revealing than Elena's, though tight enough to feel like a second skin. She looked into Elena's eyes, and Elena took her hands and smiled at her.</p><p> </p><p>“Is this real?” asked Naomi, her voice as clear as day even a hundred feet below the surface of the water.</p><p> </p><p>“As real as I am,” Elena replied, clasping Naomi's hands even more tightly. “How do you feel?”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi began to flap her new tail, which swished softly back and forth. It felt awkward, but also natural, and she blushed a bit as she looked back into Elena's eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“I feel... a bit strange, to be honest,” said Naomi. She looked up and could see her boat rapidly disappearing as she and Elena drifted below the surface. She wondered if the debt collectors would ever find it... but strangely enough, she didn't care. They couldn't find her, and that was all that mattered. She didn't have any more debts... any more obligations, any more worries... all she had now was Elena, and her new life as a Sirena in the royal palace... an upgrade from nothing. “I feel... lighter.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, that'll probably pass once you get used to having the tail,” said Elena. “Plus, the water's heavier the farther down we go, so-”</p><p> </p><p>“No, I mean... I feel like a weight's been lifted off me, you know? I don't have to worry about anything anymore.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, there are sea monsters to worry about, and at least one rival kingdom... and now that you're a Sirena, some humans probably will want to hunt you, so-”</p><p> </p><p>“Don't ruin this,” said Naomi, gently placing her hand to Elena's lips. “...besides, sea monsters are way less scary than debt collectors.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena smiled, then planted a gentle kiss on Naomi's fingertips. Naomi blushed and looked surprised... and then Elena leaned in and kissed her on the lips.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>So she does feel the same way... </em>
  <span>thought Naomi. She didn't return the kiss, and it didn't last very long, but when Elena parted, she felt lighter than ever... and she knew that no matter what happened to her now, everything was going to be all right. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And as the two swam together, back to Elena's palace, every regret that Naomi felt about giving up her humanity drifted away, like bubbles lifting in the ocean depths.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Tequila Sunset</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The Windflower Chronicles is being written as part of Elenaomi Week! This story, and all the other stories featured in this work, are part of an anthology. While some can be considered in the same continuity, they're not strictly connected or even sequential.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One of the things that Elena had expected upon becoming queen was that her life would be getting significantly busier. Even as crown princess, her schedule was packed. She had people to meet, papers to sign, and adventures nearly every week. The Grand Council helped, and she had plenty of advisers and attendants, but even with all the help she'd gotten, she barely had any time to kick back and relax.</p><p> </p><p>Now that she was queen, things were even busier. She still had advisers, she still had help, but now she had to make most of the kingdom's important decisions entirely on her own... and there were lots of decisions to make. There were still people to meet, and events to oversee, and there were still adventures... though not as many as before.</p><p> </p><p>Thankfully, Elena had the help of her best friend, her chancellor, and now, her girlfriend, Naomi. Naomi was her most trusted adviser, and took care of much of the castle's business so that Elena could focus on drafting important laws and meeting with important people. She was also the highest ranking diplomat in the kingdom, and often went on royal excursions to meet with representatives from other realms to negotiate on Avalor's behalf.</p><p> </p><p>Naomi was also busy, incredibly so, just as busy as Elena was. Fortunately, the fact that she was Elena's chancellor allowed them to spend lots of time together, though most of the talking they did was about the business of the kingdom and not the fun things they enjoyed talking about, like adventures and sailing and books, things they both enjoyed, things they both liked to do together when they had the time.</p><p> </p><p>It was rare when the two could just get away from it all together... and sometimes, they didn't even have to leave the palace to do it. Avalor's main palace was huge, filled with big rooms and long hallways, and even secret chambers that few people knew about. Elena knew about most of them, but as she and Naomi wandered the basement on this particular day, she was about to learn of one that no one in the castle had seen for nearly a century.</p><p> </p><p>“So, the representative from Zumeria kept talking about his pet dragon, and here I am just wanting to make a trade agreement, so-”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, no trade agreements! We're trying to get <em>away </em>from work, remember?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, Elena, sometimes it's hard to tell work and fun apart...” said Naomi, her voice slightly exhausted even after spending the entire day with Elena not working at all. “When's the last time we got to take a whole day off?”</p><p> </p><p>“Three weeks ago,” said Elena, rubbing the back of her neck and sighing. “I knew being queen would be a lot of work, but I didn't think it'd be so much work that I wouldn't even get to take one day a week off.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but look at it this way, the people of Avalor have never been happier! And we still get to be together, even if it's mostly for work...”</p><p> </p><p>Elena loved to see a smile on Naomi's face and the sparkle in her eyes, and she leaned into her slightly, placing her head against Naomi's shoulder. Naomi moaned softly, turning and kissing the side of Elena's head before taking her hand and holding it close to her chest.</p><p> </p><p>“We need to arrange more days like this... I don't know how we'll make it work, but we have to, before it drives us crazy...” said Naomi, tenderly caressing the top of Elena's hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Agreed,” replied Elena. “At least one day a week... it's really annoying when we're so exhausted that we can't even snuggle at night without falling asleep...”</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm, and by snuggle, I take it you mean-” Naomi began before she let out a gasp... Elena was leaning a bit too heavily into her, and she suddenly fell toward the wall. Both girls shrieked, and fell into the stone wall nearby. “Unnngh!”</p><p> </p><p>They collapsed into it, falling together and sliding against the wall with pained groans, holding each other tightly as they fell. The fall wasn't too bad, but they'd both have bruised arms for the next week, and Naomi had sustained a mild scrape to her shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm so sorry, Naomi, I didn't even realize I was falling down!”</p><p> </p><p>“I should've been more careful too, I think I might've tripped....”</p><p> </p><p>“Only because I leaned into you so hard.... I was kind of lost in your eyes, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>“Mm, I've been told I have that effect on people,” replied Naomi with a smirk. “Okay, okay, only by you.”</p><p> </p><p>When the two finally picked themselves up, they checked themselves for injuries. Naomi groaned upon seeing her scuffed shoulder and a slight tear to her outfit, but was glad she and Elena were okay. As the two continued to check themselves and each other, Elena noticed that the wall behind Naomi had shifted slightly.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, what's that?” she asked, walking over to the wall. Naomi turned and looked at it, and raised her eyebrow.</p><p> </p><p>“The wall moved? Are we really getting that heavy? I've got to get out more, sweat it off down at the harbor...”</p><p> </p><p>“No, I don't think it was our weight, I think that's a secret door...” said Elena. She grabbed the section of wall that had moved and slid it to the right, pushing it open and revealing a secret entrance. “There's a room behind this wall!”</p><p> </p><p>“Wonder what's back there? Hidden treasure?”</p><p> </p><p>“Not sure... wanna find out?” asked Elena, smiling and taking Naomi's hand. Naomi nodded in agreement, and the two stepped into the secret chamber. The space was dark, but near the door, there were two torches. “Let's shed some light on this place.... blaze!”</p><p> </p><p>Elena took out her scepter and lit up the torches, illuminating the room. The room was full of old furniture... tables, stools, chairs... indeed, it looked like there was an entire restaurant, with several tables against the wall for people to sit down, and toward the back of the room, a large table surrounded by stools, facing several shelves on which glasses and goblets were stacked.</p><p> </p><p>“Whoa...” exclaimed Naomi, slowly walking around the dimly lit space. “Elena, I think this is a secret bar....!”</p><p> </p><p>Avalor City didn't have too many bars, pubs, or taverns, and most of the ones it did have were concentrated around the port area. When she was crown princess, she and her friends never really visited any bars... Avalor didn't have a drinking age, or even the <em>concept </em>of a drinking age, but Elena just didn't like to visit them, and neither did Gabe or Mateo... though Naomi visited them with her parents from time to time, and her mother Scarlett could drink about any man in Avalor under the table.</p><p> </p><p>“I wonder when it was built, or who even built it?” asked Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe the servants? They work so hard, it might've been nice for them to have a place to get away,” said Naomi. She took one of the lit torches and began using it to light up the other torches in the room, until the whole bar area was brightly lit. Meanwhile, Elena closed the secret door behind her, leaving herself and Naomi alone.</p><p> </p><p>“I can't imagine the king and queen let them build it right under their noses,” said Elena, who started to look around at the various items of furniture.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, whoever built it, it's pretty dusty,” replied Naomi. “We should probably clean it, but-”</p><p> </p><p>“No, no work on our day off!” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“That's exactly what I was thinking... but how are we-”</p><p> </p><p>“Sparkle!” said Elena, raising her scepter again. The spell lifted all the dust and cobwebs from every object in the room, making the bar as clean and shiny as it had been the last time someone was inside. Naomi smiled as Elena lowered her wand, always impressed by her friend's magical skills.</p><p> </p><p>“That never fails to impress me.”</p><p> </p><p>“I could teach you magic sometime,” said Elena, walking over to Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“No thanks, I'm busy enough as it is... besides, all the magic I need is right here with me...”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi leaned in and kissed Elena softly on the lips, and Elena returned the kiss eagerly, even deepening it and pulling her girlfriend in close. The two kissed for a few more moments before parting, and then Naomi walked over behind the bar to see if there was anything good left.</p><p> </p><p>“...whoa! Elena, this is a treasure trove!”</p><p> </p><p>“What, you mean like gold?” asked Elena, walking over to join her friend.</p><p> </p><p>“Better,” said Naomi, smirking as she pulled out a large green bottle and set it down on the bar. “Let's see here...”</p><p> </p><p>The sound of clinking glass could be heard as Naomi rummaged through several bottles, picking up a few more of the best ones and placing them down on the table. Elena started to inspect them. Some were unlabeled and simply filled with liquid, others had labels such as “Cazador” and “Agave del Flor”. Naomi only selected the full bottles, leaving the rest in place, and by the time she was done, there were more than a dozen sitting on the bar, bottles of various colors and sizes, filled with various alcoholic beverages.</p><p> </p><p>“Are these old liquor bottles?”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, yeah, the good stuff too! We're talking 110-year old tequila here!”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, it sounds like you get around to bars a lot, are you partying without me?”</p><p> </p><p>“No way, a party's not a party without you! But my mom's had a lot of these... of course, the labels look a bit different now, but I recognize some of them... we should try some, I bet it tastes great!”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi took a large blue bottle and used a knife to cut the wax from the top. Then, she took two shot glasses and set them down on the bar, while Elena sat down on one of the stools.</p><p> </p><p>“This one's unlabeled, but this is really high quality glass, so you know it tastes good,” said Naomi, pouring one glass for Elena and one for herself. The liquid inside was clear, and the faint smell of alcohol could be detected in the air around the glasses. Elena picked up her glass and looked at it, swishing the liquid back and forth as if she were inspecting it.</p><p> </p><p>“This is 110 years old?” asked Elena. “How can you tell?”</p><p> </p><p>“The year is on the bottle,” replied Naomi, pointing to the raised lettering on the glass.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure it's good?”</p><p> </p><p>“Elena, you know tequila doesn't go bad unless you open the bottle.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I know, but...” Elena sighed, looking at the liquid again. “I've just... never drank before.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, it's gonna burn going down, let me warn you. Also, it doesn't taste sweet at all. It'll taste weird, for sure.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then why do people... oh, right, to get drunk.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi laughed, and Elena giggled with her. She was still unsure about drinking the strange liquid in the glass, and Naomi placed a comforting hand on hers.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, if you don't wanna drink it, it's okay. I'm a little nervous myself, it is pretty old after all.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena sighed again... then smiled, shaking her head.</p><p> </p><p>“You know what? This is something I've never done before, so I'm just gonna do it!”</p><p> </p><p>“That's the spirit! Bottoms up!”</p><p> </p><p>Elena and Naomi tipped back their glasses, drinking every drop. Elena immediately began to cough, lurching forward and holding her stomach, while Naomi let out a loud whoop and slammed her glass down on the table.</p><p> </p><p>“Wow, that was really good!” she shouted loudly, looking across the bar at Elena, who was still coughing. “You okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah... yeah, that was... wow... it does burn... wow.”</p><p> </p><p>“Didn't like it?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, no, it was... it was interesting tasting.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi laughed, snorting slightly as she did, and poured herself another shot.</p><p> </p><p>“This stuff tastes amazing, it's aged perfectly... and now that we've opened it, we've gotta drink the whole bottle.”</p><p> </p><p>“Right now?” asked Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“No, of course not, we'd probably die,” said Naomi. “I mean, you know, eventually.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi took another shot, while Elena pushed her glass to the side and began inspecting the other bottles sitting on top of the bar. While Elena was doing that, Naomi corked the blue bottle and set it back down under the bar, separating it from the other already opened bottles so that she'd know this one was safe to drink from. Then she joined Elena in inspecting the bottles sitting on the bar, looking for one that looked appealing, while Elena was mostly reading the labels.</p><p> </p><p>“I think this one was bottled right here in the palace,” said Elena, pointing out the writing on a small, round bottle of charanda. “Says it was bottled by a Mrs. Andrea Vesca.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, that's interesting... did the palace used to have a distillery?” asked Naomi. “I wonder if it's nearby?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, this drink looks pretty good,” said Elena, pouring herself a shot and taking a swig. “...!!! It's sweeter than the other one!”</p><p> </p><p>“That's because it's made from sugarcane, so it should be...”</p><p> </p><p>“I mean, it still burns a little and tastes weird, but it's yummy!”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, don't drink too much,” said Naomi, before taking her third shot of tequila, this one from the bottle marked Cazador. “...oh, that's got a kick to it...”</p><p> </p><p>Elena took another shot of charanda, then set the bottle aside and started inspecting another one. Naomi took a fourth shot of tequila, though by this point, she was beginning to feel its effects, and closed up the Cazador bottle before starting to put a few of the others back as well.</p><p> </p><p>“There's enough room for like, fifty people in here, at least,” said Naomi, looking around at the tables and furniture. There were even a couple of dartboards against the wall, and a small round hoop, sort of like the olaball ring, but connected to a contraption that kept score, sort of like a primitive Avaloran arcade machine.</p><p> </p><p>“Fifty people would've been the majority of the servants in the palace, right?” asked Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah... I can only imagine the parties they must've had in here.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not much room to dance though,” said Elena, prompting Naomi to come around from the bar and take her gently by the hand. “Oh?”</p><p> </p><p>“Enough room for the two of us, wouldn't you say?” she asked, leaning in. Elena smiled at her, and leaned in as well.</p><p> </p><p>“If I didn't know any better, Naomi, I'd say you were starting to get drunk,” Elena replied affectionately. Naomi snickered.</p><p> </p><p>“Well if I'm getting drunk, so are you...” Naomi said, before swinging Elena around a couple of times. Elena laughed and twirled around some more before playfully falling back into Naomi's arms. “If mom were here, she'd definitely call us lightweights.”</p><p> </p><p>“I think my mom liked to drink a little... just wine though, and only when she was super busy from her queen work...” said Elena, wistfully remembering her parents, the memory bringing another smile to her face. “I think I could get used to this...”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi giggled again, before going back to the bar and looking at all the assembled glasses. She picked one that had a nice red color to it and poured a few more shots for Elena and herself, then sat down on a table and invited Elena to sit down across from her. Elena did so, and from the straight steps she took, she and Naomi could both tell that while the two might be feeling a slight buzz, they were nowhere near inebriated, and could stand to take at least a couple more shots each as they sat together and relaxed. Naomi propped her legs up on the table, and Elena did so as well. Elena kicked off her fancy shoes, which landed on the bench next to Naomi, one of them sliding off to the floor. Naomi kicked off her boots, baring her black stockings and sending one of her boots flying across the room onto a neighboring table.</p><p> </p><p>“Feels so good to just relaaaaaax...” Naomi said, leaning back into the seat and looking up at the room's stone ceiling. “You have no idea how exhausting it is to be chancellor... oh wait, yeah you do, you're the queen.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena giggled and picked up one of the shot glasses, pausing before she took a drink.</p><p> </p><p>“You enjoy it though, right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yeah, of course I do,” said Naomi, looking back at Elena. “It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done... it's just exhausting, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>“I think we're maybe pushing ourselves too hard...” said Elena, finally taking a swig from the glass and setting it down. “I remember you and the others had to practically kidnap me to get me to take a day off.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but that was when Ash was on the loose, I get why you were working so hard,” Naomi replied, taking another shot from her own glass. “And we didn't kidnap you... trust me, you'd know if I kidnapped you.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena snickered, then blushed slightly.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>That's an idea... </em>
  <span>thought Elena, biting her lip. Naomi took a second shot, then leaned over the table.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“Think we should tell anyone else about this place? Maybe just Mateo and Gabe?”</p><p> </p><p>Elena thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. She felt a bit guilty... not just about concealing the hidden bar from her friends, but also from the palace servants and workers, who she knew deserved a place like this to relax and enjoy themselves as well... but she also wanted to have a secret spot she could go to relax with just Naomi. She was having such a good time, and they hadn't even been here very long... but she already imagined the fun times they might have together, dancing, and drinking, and talking with no one around to hear...</p><p> </p><p>“Not them, or anyone... not right now, anyway,” said Elena. “Maybe we could build another bar down here in the basement, for all the servants! We'd keep this one a secret, but we'd build them a nice new one, bigger and better... we could have Isabel help us build some fun games, and maybe even an automatic serving machine... she can build one of those, right?”</p><p> </p><p>“She can build lots of things, probably...” Naomi replied. “That's why it kind of worries me to see her dating James from Enchancia... he likes cannons, what if he has her build like... a really powerful one that could blow up the whole palace?”</p><p> </p><p>“I think that's just the tequila talking,” replied Elena, placing a hand on Naomi's and giggling.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe,” replied Naomi with a laugh of her own.</p><p> </p><p>“But anyway, we've been pushing ourselves way too hard lately. We deserve this,” said Elena, looking deeply into Naomi's eyes. “Especially you.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi blushed, looking slightly away from Elena. Even after all these months, she couldn't believe she was dating a queen... especially one as beautiful as Elena. Even in the stale light inside the bar, she could appreciate how lovely her girlfriend was... her pretty brown eyes, her perfect hair, her soft hands... Elena was gorgeous, and that wasn't the tequila talking. Elena kissed Naomi on the cheek, then took another shot of tequila before leaning back in her seat, letting out a relaxed sigh. Naomi sat back as well, continuing to admire her beautiful girlfriend, not wanting this moment to end.</p><p> </p><p>“You've never looked more beautiful than you do right now,” said Naomi wistfully.</p><p> </p><p>“Really? Not even in my coronation dress?” asked Elena, surprised to hear Naomi complimenting her in her current casual state.</p><p> </p><p>“Nah,” said Naomi. “Just seeing you so relaxed... no worries, just totally calm, leaning back with your feet up on the table and not trying to be all formal or anything. It's... really nice to see you like this. I wish I got to see it more often.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena blushed again, thinking back to everything she'd been through since she and Naomi had met. Worrying about Shuriki, then Ash... the kingdom facing destruction, worried about learning to rule... she hadn't known too many moments of peace in the last four years. Then, even before that, 41 years trapped inside that amulet... she hadn't been awake for most of it, thankfully, but it was a lonely, sad existence, and after being freed, she desperately needed a friend. Naomi was there, Naomi listened, Naomi fought for her... none of this would've been possible without her.</p><p> </p><p>“The only reason I can even take a break like this is thanks to you, Naomi,” said Elena gratefully. “You've always been there for me, you've given me everything... a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on... I know it sounds silly, but you've done so much and I can't ever thank you enough.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi smiled back at Elena and continued to take it all in... her friend's warm expression, her loving gaze, her tender lips... she almost wanted to jump across that table and start making out with her, but she was a bit too tired for that, at least at the moment. She just sighed and kept leaning back against the seat, enjoying the moment and basking in her friend's presence.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm just happy to be your friend, Elena... whether you're the queen or not, I'm so glad I met you... I want to spend the rest of my life with you...”</p><p> </p><p>“Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere,” said Elena, playfully brushing her leg up against Naomi's. “You're stuck with me forever.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi smirked and looked back over at the bar, seeing the bottle of red liquor still sitting there. She got up, walked over, and poured out two more shots before bringing them back and setting them on the table, one for Elena and one for herself. Her legs were wobbling just a bit as she sat down, and she was sure that Elena was just as tipsy as she was, but considering that the two of them had nowhere to be, she knew one more drink would be just fine.</p><p> </p><p>“<span>We have to do this more often,” said Naomi, her words only slightly slurred. “I'm gonna go </span><em>crazy </em><span>if we don't.”</span></p><p> </p><p>“You mean drinking?” asked Elena with a snicker.</p><p> </p><p>“More like just taking a break from Avalor stuff,” replied Naomi. “Like... we have to do this once a week, at least. I know we're super busy with everything, but if we don't start taking more breaks, I think it's gonna start affecting our... our work, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>“Agreed,” said Elena. “Once a week, we'll come down here and hang out. Just you and me and nobody else. We need this. We'll figure out how... we'll do it together.”</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Sounds like a plan to me!” said Naomi. She and Elena both picked up their glasses, and raised them in a toast. “To being lazy and taking breaks.”</span></p><p> </p><p>“To getting away from it all, even for a day,” replied Elena. The two then clinked their glasses together and downed one more shot, then set the glasses down and smiled at each other. They weren't exactly falldown drunk, but they were definitely under the influence by this point... not that they needed to be to see how much they loved each other. “Naomi, I love you so much...”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi smiled, and the warmth in her chest wasn't just from the tequila. She reached across the table and took Elena's hand in hers, looking into her eyes and basking in her lover's affection.</p><p> </p><p>“I love you too, Elena... and I always will.”</p><p> </p><p>The two then leaned in and kissed passionately, not minding the scent of the liquor on each other's breath. To Elena, Naomi's lips were even sweeter than the sugarcane used to make that bottle of charanda, and to Naomi, Elena's lips tasted as good as the finest Avaloran chocolate. They might have been in a bit of a haze, but their feelings were clear, and their love was true, and as they continued to lean across that table and kiss, they knew that while there would never be enough time for them to relax as much as they wanted, there would always be enough time for them to be together as much as they needed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Ventura</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The Windflower Chronicles is being written as part of Elenaomi Week! This story, and all the other stories featured in this work, are part of an anthology. While some can be considered in the same continuity, they're not strictly connected or even sequential.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The main square of Avalor City was bustling with activity. There were thousands of people, so many things to do, and a myriad of sights and sounds in all directions.</p><p> </p><p>And right in the middle of it all was the queen of Avalor herself, Elena Castillo Flores... accompanied by her chancellor and lover, Naomi Turner. The two were holding hands as they walked together in the midst of all the fun, as signs hanging above and posted all around proclaimed this day the Ventura Festival, Avalor's annual celebration of good fortune.</p><p> </p><p>“It's so nice to get out of the palace and enjoy the day together,” said Elena, smiling and looking at her girlfriend, whose blonde hair shined in the mid-afternoon sun. “Guess this is one of our first real dates, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi smiled and nodded, looking around at the many booths and attractions that had been set up. The Ventura Festival's theme was luck and good fortune, and so many of the booths featured games of chance in which various prizes could be won. The stakes weren't very high, and children who played the games were allowed to play them for free, while adults had to pay only one small silver coin. Elena wanted everyone who attended to have a good time, and so far, things seemed to be going quite well on that front.</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing better than a festival to bring out the good spirit in everyone,” Naomi replied, leaning on Elena's shoulder. “There sure are a lot of people though...”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I know somewhere private we can go if you want to get away,” said Elena with a smirk. Naomi shook her head, tightening her grip on Elena's hand and planting a soft kiss on her cheek. “It's okay, I just hope we don't get interrupted too much.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena and Naomi had already been approached by several festival-goers and well-wishers, and while they both appreciated the love and admiration of their people, they were trying to enjoy each other's company as well, and being constantly interrupted did make that a bit more difficult. Fortunately, the interruptions had slowed down as the day wore on, and the two were now mostly free to enjoy the festival at their leisure. Naomi walked over to a booth that featured a large wheel decorated brightly with colors and numbers, each number corresponding to a different prize. Most of the prizes were small trinkets of little value, but the grand prize was a large plush jaquin, and Elena's eyes had lit up when the two passed the booth earlier.</p><p> </p><p>“It's still there, doesn't look like anyone's won it yet,” said Naomi. “Elena, I'm going to win you that jaquin!”</p><p> </p><p>“I don't know, Naomi, the chances of winning are pretty low...”</p><p> </p><p>“No, it's all right, there's a trick to this game,” said Naomi, handing a silver coin to the booth operator. “You've just got to know how hard to spin the wheel.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena smiled, seeing how eager Naomi was to win the prize for her. She honestly didn't want the plush jaquin all that much, and if she truly did want one, she could easily commission it from the royal dollmaker. However, it was the thought that counted, and she loved seeing Naomi take the role of her “hero”, even in small stakes matters such as this.</p><p> </p><p>“All right Naomi, let's see what you've got!” Elena said cheerfully, trying to encourage her. Naomi gripped the wheel and gave it a nice hard spin. It went around several times, as Naomi's eyes were focused on the small, shiny gold sliver of the wheel marked with a “1” that would indicate that she'd won the grand prize. The wheel went around and around and around, and Naomi watched excitedly, just knowing that she was about to win that jaquin for Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“I got it, Elena, it's gonna land on the gold, I can feel it!”</p><p> </p><p>The wheel began to slow. Naomi and Elena both watched, their eyes glimmering as the wheel slowed down even further. Finally, it stopped.</p><p> </p><p>The wheel landed on a large green sliver marked “28”, nowhere near the gold. Naomi's shoulders slumped. The booth operator handed her a small green marble.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, it's kind of a pretty marble,” said Elena, patting her girlfriend on the shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“Here,” said Naomi, sighing in disappointment as she handed the marble to Elena. Elena simply reached over and clasped Naomi's hand around the marble, looking into her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“You keep it,” replied Elena. “And don't worry about winning me anything... it's a nice jaquin doll but you know there are lots of people here who'll enjoy it even more.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” said Naomi, her own smile returning. “It's no big deal, I just... I just like doing nice stuff for you, even if it's not really big in the grand scheme of things. You've done so much for me, and it makes me feel nice to return the favor.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena blushed and pulled Naomi into a hug, while Naomi just stood and let Elena hug her, one hand clasping the marble, the other hand resting at her side. She loved to feel Elena pressed against her... she smelled so good and she was always so warm and soft, any hug from Elena cheered Naomi right up no matter how sad or disappointed she'd been before. As the two parted from the embrace, Naomi pocketed the marble and turned back toward the booth.</p><p> </p><p>“I know it's not a big deal, but I'm gonna win you that jaquin!” said Naomi, reaching into her coin purse for another silver coin. As she did, Elena suddenly grabbed her by the arm. “Whoa!”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, wait, look!”</p><p> </p><p>Elena pointed to a small stage that had been erected in the center of the festival. On the stage was a curtain covering what appeared to be a small box, and as Elena pulled Naomi closer, the two could see a crowd gathering around it.</p><p> </p><p>“What's that?” asked Naomi, as Elena gently led her toward the stage.</p><p> </p><p>“They're about to reveal Rodrigo Ventura's lost treasure!” said Elena. “It was just found a few weeks ago, buried deep within the ocean! One of my first acts after becoming queen was to commission an expedition to find it, and they found it!”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, I know who Rodrigo Ventura is, you told me at the last festival, but what's his lost treasure?”</p><p> </p><p>Elena then explained to Naomi how Rodrigo Ventura, whose stroke of luck in discovering the spirit artifact that had saved Avalor from destruction 300 years ago led to the creation of the Ventura Festival, had also discovered a great treasure sometime after.</p><p> </p><p>“Ventura sailed out to find treasures to bring back to Avalor to help the kingdom get back on its feet after nearly being destroyed by the great disaster. He found a beautiful golden plate, so valuable that it could have been sold to pay for repairing all the destruction... but on the way back to the palace to give it to the royal family, his crew betrayed him, and the ship and the treasure sunk to the bottom of the sea.”</p><p> </p><p>“Surprised it didn't happen again with the new crew,” said Naomi with a smirk. “You should've sent me to find it.”</p><p> </p><p>“You were too busy with your chancellor duties, and besides, the Avaloran Royal Guard is the most trustworthy in the kingdom. I sent Antonia and Ixlan to lead the expedition.”</p><p> </p><p>“Good call, nobody would dare mess with them,” said Naomi. “Anyway, it sounds like a pretty cool treasure, but what are you going to do with it after the festival?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well... Avalor's a lot better off now, and the plate doesn't have the same value it used to, but it's still a cherished artifact of our kingdom's history. I want to have it on display for a period of time so that everyone in the kingdom can see it, and I'd also like to have Isabel run some tests on it. After that, I'd like to do with it what the royal family 300 years ago would have done. Sell it off to a collector, and use the money to help the disadvantaged people of Avalor... maybe send some aid to Pezandri as part of the deal we made with them.”</p><p> </p><p>“Good call,” said Naomi. “Treasures are nice, but helping people is always better.”</p><p> </p><p>The two made their way to the front of the crowd surrounding the stage, as Gabe and Antonia flanked the concealed display case.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi, Gabe!” Naomi shouted, calling out to the general of Avalor's royal guard. “Stuck on box guarding duty, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“This is a nice break from the festival, I'm not just here guarding this box!” he replied. “Anyway, I see you and Elena are having a good time... did you win her any prizes at the booths?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, that's a low blow,” Naomi groaned, putting her hands on her hips.</p><p> </p><p>“So I take it you didn't then?” he replied, smiling playfully.</p><p> </p><p>“At least I'm not babysitting!” Naomi shouted back.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay you two, chill out, this is supposed to be a fun day,” said Elena, who then looked over at Antonia. “You having fun?”</p><p> </p><p>“I am, but Ixlan's really not good with these games of chance,” replied Antonia with a laugh. “She keeps saying that they're unfair and that someone's skill should determine how they do, not random luck.”</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe your luck will improve later?” asked Elena, shrugging her shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>“That, or Ixlan will start smashing the booths,” Antonia said with a roll of her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Ladies and gentlemen of Avalor,” said Esteban, the festival's master of ceremonies, as he took the stage and walked up to the box. “For the first time in 300 years, Rodrigo Ventura's lost treasure is about to be revealed! A beautiful, shiny golden plate, pulled from the bottom of the deepest ocean in all the Everrealm!”</p><p> </p><p>Esteban grabbed the curtain, and Elena began shaking with anticipation. Naomi was much less excited, but held onto Elena's arm just the same, hoping her girlfriend wouldn't start shrieking and cheering like a little girl after the plate was revealed.</p><p> </p><p>“Citizens of Avalor, I give you... the lost treasure of Rodrigo Ventura!” shouted Esteban, pulling the curtain away. The glass display case was unveiled, and inside... was nothing. The crowd gasped. “What? Surely it's not THAT beautiful- oh, my goodness! It's gone!”</p><p> </p><p>“What?!” shouted Elena, seeing at the same time that everyone else did that the lost treasure had completely vanished and that the glass display case was empty. “But... how?”</p><p> </p><p>“That's impossible, the plate was inside the case when we covered it up and brought it on stage, I saw it myself,” said Gabe, looking around the stage in confusion.</p><p> </p><p>“I saw it too, it was right there, and really pretty too,” added Antonia.</p><p> </p><p>“Then someone must have gotten up here and took it before the reveal, but who, and how?” asked Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“I'll start investigating right away!” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena, there's no need for that, the Royal Guard will handle it,” replied Gabe.</p><p> </p><p>“That's right,” said Antonia. “The entire Royal Guard will scour Avalor City. We'll leave no stone unturned until the plate is found.”</p><p> </p><p>“But-” Elena objected, before Naomi took her hands and looked into her eyes, trying to reassure her.</p><p> </p><p>“Let Gabe and the guard handle it, and we'll just... go back to enjoying the festival,” said Naomi. “We don't get a lot of chances to just relax, and the Royal Guard's on top of this, so you don't have to worry.”</p><p> </p><p>“But that treasure meant so much to everyone, it was going to help people!” protested Elena, as Naomi tried to calm her down.</p><p> </p><p>“And it's going to be okay,” replied Naomi. “It's just a golden plate. A really valuable, pretty golden plate, but just a golden plate regardless.”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi's right, we'll take care of this,” said Gabe. “You and Naomi go enjoy the festival... c'mon, Elena, you deserve this.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena sighed. She didn't like letting other people handle her problems. She was the queen, and she was supposed to take care of everything... all of Avalor was counting on her. But she also knew that this was the Royal Guard's jurisdiction, and that Gabe was the best in the kingdom at solving mysteries and stopping thieves. Gabe was right, the royal guard needed to handle this. She'd be the first to find out that the treasure had been found, and in the meantime, she and Naomi needed to enjoy the day together.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, okay... but let me know as soon as you learn anything,” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course, your majesty,” Gabe replied.</p><p> </p><p>“Now come on, let's go! I can keep trying to win you that jaquin. Or... we can do something else?”</p><p> </p><p>Elena looked around until she saw a vendor serving shaved ice nearby. Sweets always helped to calm her nerves, and she definitely needed her nerves calmed at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Let's go get some shaved ice over there, okay Naomi?”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi nodded and the two walked over to the vendor's booth.</p><p> </p><p>“Your majesty, it's great to see you at the festival!” said the vendor, a bubbly young woman just slightly younger than the queen and her date.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course!” said Elena, trying to keep a cheerful demeanor about the whole situation, even as she began looking around for any signs of the thief. “One shaved ice for me, and one for Naomi here.”</p><p> </p><p>“Certainly!”</p><p> </p><p>The vendor began to scoop the shaved ice out of its container, and as she started squirting flavored syrup on the treat, Naomi tried her best to lighten the mood.</p><p> </p><p>“Oooh, that looks so good, I bet it'll really hit the spot on such a hot day!”</p><p> </p><p>Elena nodded, and a smile started to cross her face. The vendor handed over the treats, and as Elena started to lick, and the sweet taste of the syrup hit her tongue, she indeed began to forget about the thief from before.</p><p> </p><p>“See, Elena?” asked Naomi, licking her own ice treat. “Nothing like a nice sweet dessert to make all your worries go away, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“I heard about the treasure being stolen,” said the vendor as she took her payment from Elena. “It's a real shame, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>“Quiet!” snapped Naomi, glaring at the vendor. She could hear Elena groan next to her, and her shoulders slumped in frustration.</p><p> </p><p>“Can you imagine, the lost treasure of Rodrigo Ventura being stolen right out from under the Royal Guard's nose?” the vendor continued absent-mindedly, ignorant of Naomi's rising anger and Elena's growing sadness. “Everyone in Avalor was looking forward to seeing it, only for it to be stolen just like-”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi reached forward and pressed her hand tightly against the vendor's mouth, rudely shushing her.</p><p> </p><p>“You are making the queen very sad!” said Naomi through gritted teeth.</p><p> </p><p>“I think we should go see how Gabe is doing,” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“It's been <em>five minutes</em>!” shouted Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“I know, I just wanna go check on him,” said Elena, turning and walking back to find the first Royal Guard soldier she could. Naomi sighed again, lowering her hand from the vendor's mouth and trudging after her girlfriend. “Hey, any progress on finding that thief?”</p><p> </p><p>The guard shook his head.</p><p> </p><p>“No, your majesty, but we're searching as hard as we can!”</p><p> </p><p>“Well... search harder!” said Elena, her voice starting to rise.</p><p> </p><p>“Of... of course!” said the guard, giving a nervous salute and jogging away.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena!” said Naomi. “Don't give him such a hard time, he's looking as hard as he can, just like all the other guards! I told you, you need to calm down and enjoy the festival... let's go play some more games and enjoy the day, all right?”</p><p> </p><p>Elena sighed and nodded, already feeling guilty for hassling the guard. She knew Naomi was right, she just couldn't shake her worries about the thief from the back of her mind. Part of her almost believed the theft to be her fault... maybe she should've been watching the plate from the beginning, maybe she should've assigned more guards to watch it. Since she blamed herself, she also shouldered the responsibility for finding it, or at least she believed she did. Naomi's words calmed her down somewhat, but she couldn't shake her worries, and she hoped her girlfriend would understand that.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm trying to, it's just... it's hard to calm down and enjoy myself when there's such a big problem to solve. I'm so used to solving problems and helping people that I feel selfish for having a good time when other people aren't.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” said Naomi. “It's okay. You're a good person, that's why you feel that way. You put others before yourself, that's why I love you so much. But you don't have to do that all the time... you deserve to enjoy yourself too, and you know you've earned it, so why not just take one day and let someone else handle this problem for a change, all right?”</p><p> </p><p>Elena nodded, and Naomi leaned up and kissed her on the lips. The quick smooch definitely helped soothe Elena's troubled mind, and she allowed Naomi to lead her to another game booth featuring a card picking game with a box of Avaloran chocolate as the grand prize. Elena didn't win, but she had a good time playing, and soon, the two were hitting up every booth in the square, paying little attention to the guards' search for the treasure thief.</p><p> </p><p>“So in this game, you drop a chip onto a board full of pegs, and whichever slot it drops into at the bottom, you win that prize?” asked Elena, as she and Naomi stood at one of the most popular booths at the festival.</p><p> </p><p>“That's right!” said the operator.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, the best prize is in the center, so the obvious strategy is to drop the chip from the center,” said Naomi. She took her chip and dropped it, and it fell down the board, hitting several pegs along the way and being knocked further and further toward the left side of the board. “Wait, no, how?”</p><p> </p><p>The chip landed in the side slot, marked “0”. Naomi sighed and stepped aside to let Elena play.</p><p> </p><p>“Clearly, dropping it from the side is best,” said Elena, smiling and dropping her chip in at the very right side of the board. The chip went left a few times, but toward the bottom it veered sharply back to the right, and into the right side's “0” slot. “Hey!”</p><p> </p><p>“This game is dumb and I can't imagine how anyone would like it,” said Naomi, taking Elena's hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I'm not a fan either,” replied Elena, walking away from the booth with Naomi. A few seconds later, the two heard a massive cheer go up from the booth, as a young boy's chip landed in the centermost slot, landing him the best prize. “I think that game might be rigged.”</p><p> </p><p>Despite Naomi and Elena's failure at yet another game of chance, they were still having a really fun time, and Elena had pretty much forgotten about the thief from before. Even though they hadn't won any major prizes, they were together, and happy, and just enjoying their day, not a single worry on either of their minds. As the afternoon began to wind down, they made their way to a vista overlooking the port, a less crowded area of the city where they could get away from the festival and all the hustle and bustle. They were clad in some slightly tacky costume pieces that they'd bought a short time before, with Naomi wearing a hat that was a replica of Rodrigo Ventura's captain's hat, and Elena wearing an elaborate necklace decorated with feathers and glass jewels. They looked a bit silly in their souvenirs, but they didn't care... it just helped them to laugh whenever they got a good look at each other. They looked out over the port, leaning on each other and holding hands as a gentle breeze blew past, thinking about all the fun they'd had and hoping their next date would be just as enjoyable.</p><p> </p><p>“I had a great time today, Naomi,” said Elena, nuzzling her cheek against her girlfriend's. “We're terrible at those games though.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I think maybe we just have lousy luck,” Naomi replied.</p><p> </p><p>“That's not true,” said Elena. “I'm the luckiest person in the world right now.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi looked at Elena and snickered, half-touched by the sweetness of what she'd said and half-amused by how cheesy it was. She turned and kissed Elena's cheek again, leaning up against her even more.</p><p> </p><p>“If anyone's the lucky one, it's me,” said Naomi. “Girl from the port meets the crown princess, who somehow falls for her despite being just about the plainest girl in all the kingdom...”</p><p> </p><p>“And the bravest,” said Elena. “And the sweetest, and the prettiest...”</p><p> </p><p>“Stop, stop, stop...” said Naomi, giggling harder and harder the more Elena sweet talked her, before finally deciding to shut her up with a firm kiss on the lips. Elena continued her sweet talk, despite being muffled by Naomi's lips, and Naomi began giggling, before pulling Elena in close, holding her tight, and embracing her passionately, even as onlookers began to stare at them. “Mmm... Elena, you're too much!”</p><p> </p><p>“Just thanking you for keeping me from ruining the whole day by worrying about that thief,” said Elena, her forehead still pressed to Naomi's.</p><p> </p><p>“I thought you'd forgotten about the thief,” replied Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“I didn't forget,” said Elena. “But... I wanted to make the day special for you, so I decided to trust Gabe and the others so we could have a good time.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, we <em>did</em> have a good time.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, we did...” said Elena, still smiling. She hadn't heard from Gabe or the guards all day, but she still trusted them to catch the thief and retrieve the plate, and instead of fretting about it further, she started to kiss her girlfriend again. “Mmmm...”</p><p> </p><p>Out of the corner of her eye, Naomi noticed some movement near one of the piers. She didn't bring attention to it, but Elena could see her eye drifting, and looked in the same direction. Down at one of the piers was a man wearing a cloak that looked far too heavy for the warm weather, darting his eyes back and forth and swiftly moving toward a boat that was docked nearby.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The thief! </em>
  <span>thought Elena, and broke off the kiss. Before Naomi could say anything, the queen had leapt from the balcony, down to the street below.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Elena!” shouted Naomi, watching her girlfriend make what had to be at least a two story jump. Fortunately, Elena was unharmed, and quickly ran off in the direction that she'd seen the suspected thief. </span><em>You've gotta be kidding me!</em></p><p> </p><p>Despite her worries about the height of the jump, Naomi leapt after Elena, and fortunately was also unharmed, not losing a step as she ran to catch up. The man, who was walking along the dock toward the pier leading to his boat, could see Elena running after him, and let out an exclamation of surprise. He looked toward his boat, but realizing that he wouldn't have enough time to reach it and that the pier was a dead end, instead darted toward the row of warehouses lining the dock, knowing that it would be easier to lose his pursuers inside one of them. Elena ran after him, and Naomi followed, and the two dashed into the building in hopes of catching up to the fleeing man before he was able to get away.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm Queen Elena Castillo Flores, and I order you to stop!” shouted Elena as she hustled after the man. The fleeing man proved surprisingly agile, leaping over a stack of boxes before kicking them over to block Elena's path. Elena leapt over one of the boxes, but tripped into the next, and fell hard to the ground just as Naomi ran in. “Nnnngh!”</p><p> </p><p>“Elena, are you okay?” shouted Naomi, extending a hand to help her girlfriend up.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm fine, Naomi, keep chasing him, we can't lose him!”</p><p> </p><p>As Naomi helped Elena to her feet, the thief escaped out the back door of the warehouse. The two quickly chased after him, but by the time they got outside, they no longer had him in their sights... the area behind the warehouses was a mess of cargo, netting, and heavy equipment, and it was easy for anyone to hide, especially a thief who had plenty of experience with such things.</p><p> </p><p>“Dammit!” Elena cursed, something she rarely did, and something that surprised Naomi, who tried to comfort her by placing a hand on her shoulder. “Where did he go, how could I let him escape?”</p><p> </p><p>“Elena, none of this is your fault-”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course it is! I'm supposed to protect everybody, I'm supposed to make sure Avalor is safe... I can't even catch one thief, and now he's going to take the treasure that was supposed to make everybody happy...”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi began to scan the area, looking around toward the buildings surrounding the crowded lot. There was no other escape besides those buildings, and the thief hadn't had time to reach them, and none of the doors had budged. He was still here, hiding... and Naomi was going to find him, if only to make Elena happy again.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena, I've got an idea. You just watch the doors, I'll start searching. If he goes for one of the doors, call out to me and I'll catch him, got it?”</p><p> </p><p>Elena nodded, but she was unsure... what if she missed him? What if Naomi got hurt?</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, be careful... he might be armed.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, well, so am I,” said Naomi, smiling and holding her lasso. “Now just stay there and I'll flush him out.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi began combing the area, looking behind and inside every box she could, while also listening for any noise that might indicate the thief's movements. As she did, Elena kept a close watch on all the doors, determined not to let the thief slip out of her sight again. She worried for Naomi, worried that at any moment, the thief might lunge out and hurt her... she knew Naomi could handle herself, but still, everyone in Avalor was her responsibility... she was the queen, after all.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Naomi, I know you don't want me to worry... and I know you worry about me the same way. You don't like to show it, but every time I put myself in danger, I can see the fear in your eyes. I wish I knew how to hide it like you do... you stay so calm, and I freak out. I guess I feel like I have the whole kingdom on my shoulders, but you share the same responsibilities as me, and it seems like I'm the one you're focused on the most. I guess I should be flattered, but...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>A shift in a stack of boxes drew Naomi's attention, and she walked over to the stack, which wobbled slightly and then stopped. She leaned over and checked behind the boxes, lasso at the ready... not seeing the box dangling above her head had begun to move as a rope suspending the netting holding the box in place was being cut nearby. Naomi turned and saw the thief, now holding a knife and cutting the last strands of the rope, but before she could lunge after him, the box above her head fell.</p><p> </p><p>Naomi gasped.</p><p> </p><p>“NAOMI!” screamed Elena, having already sprung into action, diverting her attention from the nearby door. Elena dived into her friend, pushing her out of the way just as the box came down, shattering into wooden splinters and nearly burying the two in hundreds of pounds of large fish. The two lay on the ground in a heap together, shaken but unharmed, as the thief dashed for one of the exits. “Are... are you okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” groaned Naomi, realizing how close she'd come to being seriously hurt, or worse. “Thanks, Elena...”</p><p> </p><p>“The thief... he's getting away...!” said Elena, starting to clamber to her feet. Naomi reached for her lasso, but it was tangled around both her legs and Elena's, and before she could warn her friend about it, Elena tripped and fell. “Unnngh! No!”</p><p> </p><p>The thief laughed before lunging for the door. Naomi tried to untangle the lasso from herself and her friend, but even if she was able to, he'd already be out the door and well on his way to his boat, too late for either of them to stop. Naomi sighed, then felt a small lump in the side of her leg.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Huh...? </em>
  <span>She reached inside her pocket and pulled out the green marble she'd won earlier that day. “...no, he's not!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi remembered her days as a young girl shooting marbles in Norberg, and hoped that she still had some of her old skills as she lined up what she knew would be her only shot to stop the thief's escape and save the golden plate. She waited for him to reach for the doorknob, then took aim at his right foot as it came back down toward the ground. The marble flew and landed right next to the thief's foot, rolling under it. As he came down, his foot landed on the marble, which forced him backward with a loud cry, flying up into the air and falling onto his back. Before he could stand up, Naomi and Elena were both standing over him, looking down sternly. He didn't bother reaching for his knife... he knew he'd been caught.</p><p> </p><p>“You're under arrest,” said Elena, smiling for the first time since she and Naomi had broken off their kiss at the overlook.</p><p> </p><p>The thief was then wrapped up in Naomi's lasso, and the golden plate, concealed inside his cloak, was confiscated. The royal guard was called, and the thief was taken into custody, while Elena held the plate carefully in her hands, allowing herself and Naomi to get a nice look at it now that it was safe and sound again.</p><p> </p><p>“Nice shooting, Naomi,” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Eh, I got lucky,” replied Naomi, shrugging her shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>“We've been chasing him around the city all day,” said Gabe, a sheepish look on his face as he looked at Elena and Naomi. “Sorry we weren't able to bring him in.”</p><p> </p><p>“He almost slipped out of our grasp too,” said Elena. “It's like Naomi said, we just got lucky.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena then turned to the guard she'd scolded earlier.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time,” said Elena, placing her hand on the guard's shoulder. “I'll try not to make such a big deal out of things in the future...”</p><p> </p><p>“No worries, your majesty,” replied the guard.</p><p> </p><p>“How did the thief manage to take the plate in the first place?” asked Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“We had our eyes on the treasure, but not the platform,” said Antonia. “He slid under there early in the morning, waiting for the plate to be brought out. Once it was, all he had to do was reach up, grab it, and then slide out again while no one was looking. We should've been more thorough in our inspection... I spent too much time worrying about Ixlan's behavior to double check the platform.”</p><p> </p><p>“It's okay, Antonia, I spent a lot of time worrying about things myself today,” said Elena, looking over at Naomi. “Fortunately, I had someone with me to remind me what really matters... and in the end, we still caught the thief.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I'm still not really impressed by this thing,” said Naomi, looking at the plate as she held it up to her face. “Just looks like a big shiny piece of gold to me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Speak for yourself, I plan to place a <em>very </em>high bid on it once it comes up for auction a few months from now,” said Dona Paloma, fanning herself as she walked by. “It'll be the perfect item to lure in shoppers to my stores, I expect it to pay for itself within a year.”</p><p> </p><p>“Again, I don't see what's so impressive about a shiny dinner plate, but I'm glad it's safe,” said Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“And I'm glad you're safe,” said Elena, holding Naomi close. Naomi smiled and blushed, remembering that Elena had saved her from getting badly hurt before.</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks to you,” said Naomi. “You saved me, and I saved the plate... so I guess in a way, you saved us both!”</p><p> </p><p>“You're way more important than that plate, and I almost forgot that today,” said Elena, taking Naomi's hand. “...do you want to walk with me? The festival's almost over.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi nodded, and as the Royal Guard took the plate back from her for safe keeping, she and Elena began walking together, hand in hand, back toward the city square. They'd been through quite the little adventure, but their date wasn't over yet, and they hoped that they could spend a much calmer night together now that the plate had been returned.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, I was thinking about earlier... why I'm always more worried about things than you are.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I think the reason might be because... and don't take this the wrong way, but... I've got the whole kingdom to worry about, and most of the time, you only get really worried when I'm in danger. I'm not saying you don't care about the kingdom, it's just... maybe taking on all that responsibility is why I'm always freaking out?”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi smiled and shook her head softly.</p><p> </p><p>“It's not that I don't care about the kingdom just as much as I care about you... I am the chancellor, after all. It's just... you spend so much time worrying about everyone... and helping everyone, and giving so much of yourself for everyone, that sometimes you forget to look out for yourself, you know? So that's why I spend more time worrying about you than about the kingdom. Avalor's got you, and you're strong enough to protect everyone... but someone's got to look out for you, and that's what I'm here for. I guess the reason I'm not always freaking out about you the way you sometimes freak out about Avalor is that... I know you can take care of yourself, usually... I have faith in you, Elena. So... whenever I worry, I just remember how strong and smart you are, and it usually calms me down. Usually.”</p><p> </p><p>The two stopped walking, and Elena turned to face Naomi, starting to realize why Naomi was always so calm. She held Naomi's hands in hers, and raised them up to her lips, kissing them softly.</p><p> </p><p>“You're just as strong and smart as I am,” said Elena. “Maybe even smarter.”</p><p> </p><p>“No way I'm smarter than you... maybe I have a slightly better intuition, but you're way better at thinking things through.”</p><p> </p><p>“Today I just sort of leapt after that guy,” said Elena. Naomi replied with a snicker, and looked into Elena's eyes, her affection clearly visible.</p><p> </p><p>“Sometimes it's best to just go with your gut,” said Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“Like the first time I did this?” Elena replied, leaning in and kissing Naomi passionately. Naomi returned the kiss, reaching up and running her hands through Elena's hair for a moment before the two parted.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” said Naomi, smiling. “Like that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Next time something like that happens with the thief, I'll try not to worry so much,” said Elena, continuing to hold Naomi's hands in hers, and looking into her eyes as if to make a promise. “I'll let the guard handle it, I'll only get involved if I absolutely have to. I'll try not to take on so much of everyone's burden...”</p><p> </p><p>“And I'll keep watching your back, like I always do,” replied Naomi. “You can trust me to let you know if you need to jump in.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks, Naomi... I can trust you with anything.”</p><p> </p><p>The two kissed again, a quick smooch on the lips before returning to their walk, the sun setting behind the square as the festival continued down the road. It seemed that they couldn't even enjoy a date without being thrust into an adventure, but sometimes, the adventure was the date... and they knew there'd be many more to come.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Harboring Resentment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The Windflower Chronicles is being written as part of Elenaomi Week! This story, and all the other stories featured in this work, are part of an anthology. While some can be considered in the same continuity, they're not strictly connected or even sequential.</p><p>This particular story features slightly more mature subject matter than the other stories in the anthology, so reader discretion is advised.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Elena sat on her throne in the royal palace of Avalor, in the midst of another busy day of her duties as queen. At the moment, she was conversing with her royal wizard Mateo, and though her meeting with him was technically official business, getting a chance to talk to one of her close friends was always the highlight of her day, and the conversation between them had drifted from professional to personal.</p><p> </p><p>“So... Carla's really coming along with her magic, and I wanted to get her something to congratulate her for making so much progress,” said Mateo. “I'm not sure whether I should get her a new set of robes or a nice pendant.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why not both?” asked Elena. She smiled and leaned in, clearly able to see the blush forming on her friend's face as he continued to talk about the former rival who was now becoming his close friend. “I think she'd appreciate either one, but if you presented them both as a set, I think it'd really impress her.”</p><p> </p><p>“Who said anything about trying to impress her?” Mateo replied nervously. “It's supposed to be an official award from the royal wizard, not some kind of present...!”</p><p> </p><p>“Come on, Mateo, everyone can see it...” said Elena, leaning in even closer.</p><p> </p><p>“See what? Wait a minute, Elena, are you saying that Carla and I are... are....”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn't say anything.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes you did!”</p><p> </p><p>As Elena began to laugh, the door to the throne room opened, and in stepped Gabe, general of the royal guard. He had a somewhat stern look on his face, not the usual look of satisfaction that he normally had after completing a mission. He and the guard had been sent to conduct a raid on an establishment called the Pink Jaquin... nominally a private club down at the port, though most in Avalor City knew it as the city's most famous brothel, where sailors, tourists, and anyone who wanted to could 'have a good time'... and by good time, one wasn't referring to a festival.</p><p> </p><p>“General Gabe,” said Elena, rising from her throne. “Anything to report on the Pink Jaquin operation?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” replied Gabe, with frustration in his voice. “It was a total bust. When we got there, the place was totally empty.”</p><p> </p><p>“That's impossible,” said Elena. “Even at this time of day, there's usually dozens of people there... workers and patrons alike.”</p><p> </p><p>“Exactly,” replied Gabe. “Which means...”</p><p> </p><p>“Someone tipped them off,” said Elena. By now, Mateo could tell that Elena was going to be busy with this one for a while, and decided to dismiss himself, exiting the throne room. He'd decide for himself what present to give Carla, while Elena and her general had much bigger concerns. “But who could've done such a thing? The only people who knew about this operation were in the Royal Guard.”</p><p> </p><p>“I've already checked for leaks, and there's no way any of my guards could have done it. Most of them only found out about this operation right before it was to go down, and there wasn't enough time for any of them to have contacted any of the people at the club.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena put her hand to her chin, thinking hard for a few moments. She didn't have a clue who might've possibly leaked information about the Pink Jaquin raid, or who would even have the motivation to do so. Then she remembered something, and almost dismissed it out of hand before realizing that it was still worth looking into.</p><p> </p><p>“There was one other person besides the Royal Guard and myself who knew about the raid,” said Elena. “Naomi knew... but she couldn't possibly... she'd never go behind my back on something like this, would she?”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi? No way, she's the most honest person I know,” said Gabe, expressing surprised that Elena would even slightly suspect her best friend.</p><p> </p><p>“And she's the only one who could've leaked it... plus, she's been at the harbor all day doing interviews for business permits... I mean, I don't <em>want </em>to believe it's Naomi, but who else could it be?”</p><p> </p><p>“I'll talk to some of my guards again, ask if any of them might've had the chance to pass the information along, or even just mentioned it in passing. I'm telling you, it can't be Naomi.”</p><p> </p><p>“In the meantime, I'll go down to the harbor and pay her a visit... surely it's not Naomi,, but...”</p><p> </p><p>Elena's voice trailed off, as she tried to fight off the thoughts that Naomi might've done something to undermine her. They'd had disagreements, sure, plenty of them, but they always talked about these things openly, always worked it out, came to some kind of compromise or convinced the other to see their point of view. They'd never lied to each other, not since Elena became queen and Naomi became chancellor. As Elena exited the throne room and prepared to head down to the harbor, she continued to reassure herself that Naomi couldn't have tipped off the people at the Pink Jaquin to the raid... but also asked herself over and over again...</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>What if she did?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>O-O-O</p><p> </p><p>Down at the harbor, things had calmed down since the failed raid on the Pink Jaquin, and a few short blocks from the building, Naomi was meeting with one of her oldest friends since arriving in Avalor. She was meeting with a young woman named Anabel, who Naomi had known even longer than she'd known Elena. Though the two weren't as close as Naomi and Elena were, they'd kept in touch since Naomi had joined the Grand Council, and Naomi made a point to check in on her often... which was especially important considering the nature of Anabel's job.</p><p> </p><p>“I can't thank you enough for what you did today, Naomi,” said Anabel, tightly hugging her friend. “We had no idea it was coming... why's the queen cracking down on prostitution all of a sudden?”</p><p> </p><p>“She wants to clean up Avalor and lower crime... we spent so much time going after the Delgados that a lot of petty crimes went by the wayside, and once she took the throne and noticed how many problems there were down here, she wanted to make sure things improved.”</p><p> </p><p>“But we're not common streetwalkers, you know that,” said Anabel, looking more sad than insulted.</p><p> </p><p>“I know, and I'll try to convince Elena that she needs to go easy on places like yours, but in the meantime...”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi placed her hand on Anabel's shoulder. Anabel sighed, and Naomi gave her a reassuring look.</p><p> </p><p>“You and the other girls should just lay low for a while,” said Naomi. “Do you all have places to go?”</p><p> </p><p>“Madame Valdez is making sure all of us have plenty of food and a safe place to stay,” said Anabel. “We'll get by, don't worry...”</p><p> </p><p>“That's good to hear,” said Naomi. “If any of you need anything, just let me know.”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi... you don't have to do this,” replied Anabel. “I know you've already gone way out on a limb for us, if Elena finds out you tipped us off-”</p><p> </p><p>“I'll be fine,” said Naomi. She hugged Anabel again, and as she was doing so, Elena appeared around a corner and began to walk over. Naomi saw her, but knew that Elena didn't know Anabel, so she had no problem parting from the hug casually and waving goodbye to her friend as the queen approached. “Elena, what brings you down to the harbor?”</p><p> </p><p>“We need to talk,” said Elena. Naomi knew that 'we need to talk' was the universal language for some kind of relationship problem, and began to look slightly nervous, thinking that Elena may have just figured out what she'd been up to. “Remember when I told you about today's Royal Guard operation, and said that you needed to stay clear of the Pink Jaquin for a little while?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>She knows, </em>
  <span>thought Naomi, who wasn't even going to bother trying to keep up the lie. </span>
  <em>Guess she'd have figured it out sooner or later.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi looked around and saw that there were numerous people walking around, and didn't want to have any arguments out in the open in front of everyone.</p><p> </p><p>“Can we talk somewhere private?” she asked, her eyes darting slowly back and forth. From the nervous tone in Naomi's voice, and her eagerness to take their discussion somewhere else, Elena already realized that her fears about her best friend and chancellor were correct, and her expression became a mix of disappointment and anger.</p><p> </p><p>“Like where, exactly?” asked Elena. Naomi looked and saw that the Pink Jaquin building no longer had a guard posted nearby, so she gestured to her friend to follow her there. “In there?”</p><p> </p><p>“We both know it's empty,” said Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>Elena sighed and began to follow Naomi to the vacant brothel, getting more and more upset with her friend with every step she took.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>My chancellor... my girlfriend... went behind my back! And not just over something little, she tipped off criminals to a Royal Guard operation! If it was anyone else, that would be worthy of a long stay in the palace dungeons! Why would Naomi do such a thing? She's never lied to me since becoming chancellor, why would she start now?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The two entered the building, and Naomi closed the door behind them. Inside, the entrance was a sort of cross between a bar and a large hotel lobby, with tables, a stage at the back, and stairs leading up to a second floor, along with a pair of hallways leading to more rooms on the ground floor. As far as brothels went, the Pink Jaquin was one of the classiest, and one of the biggest, in all of Avalor. Though it had the appearance of a reputable social club, it was clearly something seedier behind the scenes, and though the main entrance smelled of pleasant perfumes, Elena still wrinkled her nose in disgust at the thought of what went on in those back rooms.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, I already know the answer, but I want you to tell me right now: did you tip off the people here about the raid today?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” said Naomi, without a hint of hesitation. “And I have a good explanation.”</p><p> </p><p>“You'd better!” shouted Elena, her voice rising sharply. “Do you have any idea what you've done? You interfered with an official Royal Guard police operation! You committed obstruction of justice in service of a crime!”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you going to listen to me?” asked Naomi, her voice rising as well, though not as much as Elena's. Elena crossed her arms in front of her chest, leaning against the bar and glaring harshly at her friend. “Let me explain why I tipped off the people here, and then you can decide whether you want to punish me or not.”</p><p> </p><p>“I don't want to punish you at all,” said Elena. “The problem is that I <em>have </em>to. But explain yourself, and then I'll figure out if the punishment should be small or severe.”</p><p> </p><p>“...okay,” said Naomi, sitting down on one of the tables and letting out a long sigh. “I guess I should start from the beginning. One of the girls here, Anabel, is a really close friend of mine. We've known each other since I first got here from Norberg... since before you and I met.”</p><p> </p><p>“So you did all this to protect your friend?” asked Elena. “What about <em>our </em>friendship?”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you gonna shut the hell up so I can explain this to you?!” shouted Naomi. Elena gasped slightly, looking quite offended that Naomi had snapped at her so harshly and in such a disrespectful way, but Naomi, unfazed by Elena's reaction, continued to speak. “When I met Anabel, she... wasn't doing too great. Her dad had died a while back and her mom was real sick... they were trying to get by, but then her mom died and she was left alone. My dad and I tried to help her, but... she ended up on the streets, and you know what usually happens to girls on the streets.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not in Avalor,” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, yes, in Avalor, especially before you got out of the amulet. You think Shuriki gave a damn what happened to hookers down at the port? And even after you came back, we were so busy going on adventures and you were so busy learning how to rule that there wasn't nearly enough time to clean things up in parts of the city. Just because we've mostly seen the pleasant things doesn't mean that there aren't unpleasant things out there... they don't call it the Everrealm's oldest profession for nothing.”</p><p> </p><p>“So... your friend became a prostitute,” said Elena, her tone softening slightly. She felt genuinely bad for Anabel... she knew it wasn't the girls' fault that they ended up having to perform such dangerous and degrading work, and part of the reason for the crackdown was to make sure they had somewhere safe to go... but it was still a crime, and the punishment was still a stay in the dungeons. “What happened to her?”</p><p> </p><p>“A better question would be, what <em>didn't </em>happen to her?”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, I'm sorry about what happened to Anabel... but that doesn't change the fact that this place has no right to exist.”</p><p> </p><p>“This place saved her life, Elena! It's saved a lot of girls' lives... back when she walked the streets, she had no protection, if someone wanted to hurt her, she had to fight them off herself... and she was constantly being called terrible things by people out there, things like 'gutter trash', or even 'harbor slut'....” Naomi shuddered at the last one, barely able to repeat it herself... Anabel wasn't the only one who'd been called that, Naomi had as well one night when she'd gone out walking with Anabel to keep her safe. She hadn't participated in anything sexual, obviously, she'd just gone with her that night to escort her through some of the most dangerous parts of the city, but even a simple walk had subjected her to terrible verbal abuse. “But then she was able to start working here, and Madame Valdez took care of her.”</p><p> </p><p>“Madame Valdez?” asked Elena, raising her eyebrow.</p><p> </p><p>“The proprietor,” said Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“You mean pimp,” Elena spat, her disgusted tone returning.</p><p> </p><p>“Madame Valdez isn't like that... believe me, if she was, she'd be locked up in the royal dungeons right now. She takes care of all the girls... no one's forced to work here, and she makes sure they're safe. When guys come in here, she vets them, all of them. The girls are all paid fairly, enough to get them back on their feet, so they don't have to work here very long if they don't want to.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi pointed behind the bar. Elena turned and could see a tamborita sitting there, which had belonged to Madame Valdez but had gotten left behind in the workers' haste to leave after Naomi's tip.</p><p> </p><p>“You see that tamborita?”</p><p> </p><p>“Was Valdez going to use it to try and fight off my guards?”</p><p> </p><p>“No,” said Naomi. “Every john that comes in here has a spell cast on them that checks them for diseases, and every worker has that same spell cast on them before they start work. If they've got... you know, syphilis, or even just a cold, they glow a certain color, and Madame Valdez knows to send them away... if it's one of the girls, she pays to have them sent to a medical clinic.”</p><p> </p><p>“I can't... I can't believe what I'm hearing, Naomi!” shouted Elena, walking over to her. “You're defending a brothel, you're defending a person who takes in girls-”</p><p> </p><p>“Women, actually,” said Naomi. “That's another thing, all the women who work here are adults, she makes sure of that too.”</p><p> </p><p>“I don't care if they're a bunch of old ladies, prostitution is a crime and this place needs to be shut down! And we were on the verge of doing that before you screwed it all up by leaking state secret information-”</p><p> </p><p>“State secret?” shouted Naomi, rising to her feet. “You act like I betrayed the kingdom to Shuriki or something! All I did was help some young women with nowhere else to go stay out of the royal dungeons! Now they're out on the street, and if they can't work here, they're going to have to stay on the street, and they'll be back to where they were before, in danger of being killed by their clients or whatever else can go wrong out there!”</p><p> </p><p>“It sounds to me like they'd be better off in the dungeons than on the streets!”</p><p> </p><p>“They don't belong in the dungeons!”</p><p> </p><p>“Prostitution is a crime!” shouted Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“You act like I don't know that!”</p><p> </p><p>“No, you <em>do </em>know that, Naomi, and that's even worse! You knew there were crimes going on here, and you compromised an operation to stop those crimes from happening, which makes you just as guilty!”</p><p> </p><p>“And I'd do it again!” Naomi screamed, turning away from Elena and walking toward the back of the room.</p><p> </p><p>“Don't walk away from me!” Elena screamed back at her. She started to walk toward Naomi, only to nearly trip on the table Naomi had been sitting on. In frustration, Elena let out a loud scream and threw the table aside, making a loud crash as it flipped over, and startling Naomi, who turned to face her with a hint of fear in her eyes. “Naomi, you're welcome to disagree with me, but I never thought... I never <em>imagined </em>that you'd go behind my back like this! If you didn't agree with the operation, you could've just told me, and we could have talked about this together!”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn't want to talk about it with you because I knew you'd be like this,” said Naomi softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Be like what?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ever since you took the throne, you've been determined to 'clean up Avalor', cracking down on everything... especially this. Some of Anabel's friends who were still out on the streets ended up in the royal dungeons, I didn't want her to end up in there too.”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, the punishment for prostitution is a week in the dungeon, your friend would've been in there a few days, tops. You could have gone to visit her... you could've asked me to give her a royal pardon and I would have.”</p><p> </p><p>“This isn't about my friend, Elena, this is about every young woman in Avalor who's forced into this life. Do you think I like prostitution? You think I agree with what Anabel's doing, or Madame Valdez, or anyone? Of course not! I've told her a bunch of times that she needs to find something else to do, but for some people in this city, there's not. You've got people like Dona Paloma with tons of money, and then people like Anabel with practically nothing. The fact of the matter is that there's always going to be this kind of thing in Avalor. This isn't some fairytale story for little kids, Elena, this is the real world, and as long as there are lonely sailors on shore leave and as long as Avalor City is one of the busiest ports in the Everrealm, there will <em>always </em>be prostitution here. I just want it to be safe, you want to force these girls out onto the streets.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena didn't want to force anyone out onto the streets, and Naomi's implication that she did caused a new wave of anger to rise up within her. Clearly, her girlfriend didn't trust her to do the right thing, and because of Naomi's actions, she wasn't sure whether she could ever trust her again... something that hurt her even more than any of Naomi's angry words had.</p><p> </p><p>“I can't believe you'd think that of me,” said Elena. When Naomi tried to reach out to her, Elena turned away. “And I especially can't believe you'd undermine my authority. I made you chancellor because you have the best instincts in the kingdom, and I trust you completely... but only if you're honest with me, which you weren't today. I have <em>never </em>been more upset with you than I am right now...”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn't want to go behind your back-”</p><p> </p><p>“Then why did you?” snapped Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Because it was the right thing to do,” replied Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“And that's another thing... not only did you go behind my back, but you're not even apologizing! You keep insisting that it was the right thing to do, but did you ever stop to consider that you're the only one who thinks that way?”</p><p> </p><p>“I think the girls here would agree with me!” shouted Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course they would, they're <em>criminals</em>, and you helped them! And now I don't know what I'm going to do with you!”</p><p> </p><p>“I don't care,” said Naomi, turning away from Elena. “You can do whatever you want.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena started to say something else, but as she felt even more anger rising in her, she felt herself getting choked up as well. She didn't want to say something she might regret... and she was upset that she was so mad at Naomi that she would even think of saying such things. All she knew was that all of this was Naomi's fault, and if she didn't get away from her, she'd probably say something even more hurtful, and she needed to have her mind clear to decide what she was going to do.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>If I can't trust Naomi, maybe she shouldn't be my chancellor anymore.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>And if Naomi shouldn't be her chancellor anymore, maybe there was something else she shouldn't be anymore either.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>...if I can't trust Naomi, can I really be in a relationship with her?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Elena felt an even bigger lump forming in her throat, but she couldn't cry, not now, not in front of Naomi, who she was still furious with. She looked at Naomi again, and could see her girlfriend's shoulders shaking slightly.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi-”</p><p> </p><p>“Just don't talk to me right now, Elena!” Naomi suddenly shouted, not even turning to face her.</p><p><br/>
“...fine,” said Elena bitterly, trying to hide the sadness in her voice. “...but we <em>are </em>going to talk about this later.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena walked out of the room, leaving her girlfriend alone. When Naomi finally turned back around, Elena had already left, and she was by herself in the big, empty room. She looked all around, at the gaudy decorations, and the beautiful stairs lined with pink carpeting, and thought to herself for a few moments, wondering if protecting all of this was worth it.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Was this worth my relationship with Elena? I've never seen her that upset with me before, even when I came back and let that creature get away and got her arm broken... I beat myself up after that for so long, but she forgave me so quickly... even if I didn't think I deserved it.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>In her heart, Naomi still believed she'd done the right thing. She hadn't imagined Elena would get this upset with her... but understood why she would, even if she didn't agree with it.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I hated lying to her... I know that's why she's mad, not because she hates these girls. But... what can I do? I have to make sure they're safe... but I don't want to lose Elena... I love her more than anything in the world...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>As Naomi felt the first tears coming to her eye, the door opened again. Thinking it might be Elena, Naomi wiped her tear away quickly, not wanting to show any signs of being upset in front of her friend, and preparing to continue arguing her piece. Only... it wasn't Elena who entered the room, but Anabel.</p><p> </p><p>“Anabel,” said Naomi, walking over to her nervously. “You're supposed to be laying low with the other girls, if any of the Royal Guard comes back and sees you here-”</p><p> </p><p>“I heard everything,” Anabel replied. “I saw you and the queen come in here and I got worried, so I stayed outside and listened...”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” said Naomi, her shoulders slumping. “You heard all that, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, I can't believe you'd fight so hard against your girlfriend for us... for me. I know how close you two are... I'm sorry you had to do all that...”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, well... it was the right thing to do,” said Naomi as she and Anabel walked over to the table Elena had flipped. Working together, the two picked it up from the floor and set it back down in place, even making sure the arrangement of the chairs were the same as before. “I can't let them shut this place down and put you guys back out on the streets... not after everything that happened to you before.”</p><p> </p><p>“...thank you, Naomi,” said Anabel, reaching across the table and taking her friend's hands. “But... I think you should go back to the palace and apologize to Elena.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi sighed. She wanted to go back and apologize to Elena... she desperately wanted the two of them to mend their relationship, back to the trust and happiness they had before. But going back and apologizing potentially meant giving up on her mission of protecting the prostitutes of Avalor City, and she couldn't do that, not after everything her friend Anabel had been through.</p><p> </p><p>“But Anabel, this place, it means everything to you and the other girls. If I let Elena and the guard shut it down-”</p><p> </p><p>“We'll be okay, I told you.”</p><p> </p><p>“You'll be back on the street,” said Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm never going back on the street. If this place shuts down, I'll get by. I'll find work, I've got enough saved up to live on my own for at least a few months.”</p><p> </p><p>“...I could help you,” said Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“There'd be other girls who'd need it more. Naomi... you've done so much for me since my mom died, and I can't thank you enough, but I've seen you and Elena together. She... she loves you, and I know you love her.”</p><p> </p><p>“More than anything,” said Naomi, smiling for a moment and clutching her hands to her chest. “...and I hated going behind her back, even if it <em>was </em>the right thing to do. I've never lied to her like that before... I can't imagine she thinks very highly of me now.”</p><p> </p><p>“She thinks the world of you,” said Anabel. “I've seen the two of you together... everyone in Avalor knows you're going to be married someday.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi blushed fiercely, trying not to think too hard about Elena, especially when she was still mad at her. Naomi dreamed about being together with Elena forever, but now thinking about her just made Naomi sad... and she desperately hoped she hadn't ruined their chances at being a couple.</p><p> </p><p>“I disagree with what Elena's trying to do to this place, but she's a great queen, and a great person... you both are, that's why you're so good for each other. Please... patch things up with her, even if it means the end of this place. You've done so much for me already... I'd hate to be the reason my best friend loses her dream.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi felt another tear coming to her eye, and this time, Anabel was the one to reach up and wipe it away.</p><p> </p><p>“And from now on, be honest with her,” said Anabel. “That's one of the things I've always liked about you, is that you're so honest... don't lie to her for me, or anyone else. She deserves the truth, no matter what.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi sniffled and nodded her head, and leaned into Anabel's hand tenderly, closing her eyes as her friend continued to comfort her and wipe her tears away. As much as she loved Elena, Naomi also cared deeply for Anabel, and hoped that her friend would soon be able to leave this vocation entirely, even if she was safer with Madame Valdez than she ever would've been on the streets. Anabel always had a way of making her feel better, just like Elena did, and she'd never been more grateful to her friend than she was right now. She stood up from the table, and when Anabel did so as well, she wrapped up her friend in the tightest hug she'd ever given her.</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks for that, I needed it so bad,” said Naomi, sniffling again.</p><p> </p><p>“Any time,” said Anabel. “And don't worry so much about me...”</p><p> </p><p>“I can't help it,” replied Naomi. “I want to protect all my friends, you <em>and </em>Elena.”</p><p> </p><p>“She's the luckiest woman in the world,” said Anabel.</p><p> </p><p>Naomi would've disagreed, but she'd already had one disagreement with a good friend today and wasn't in the mood to have another. She and Anabel walked out of the Pink Jaquin together, and as Anabel went back to her safehouse, Naomi made her way back to the palace, hoping she and Elena could patch things up, even if she was still determined to make sure her other friend was safe.</p><p> </p><p>O-O-O</p><p> </p><p>Elena had already returned to her throne room, and was in somewhat of a foul mood as she sat in her throne. She'd calmed down somewhat from before, but her conversation with Naomi had weighed heavily on her mind, and she didn't have any idea what to do. She hadn't spoken with anyone about what had happened... Mateo, Gabe, her grandparents, especially not Isabel, though she imagined her sister would be the first one she'd speak to as she tried to figure out what to do with Naomi... or even if there was anything <em>to </em>do.</p><p> </p><p>She certainly didn't want to rush to judgment, but she was so hurt and upset that her friend had gone behind her back... it had damaged the trust she had in Naomi, the one person she could trust more than just about anyone else in the world... the girl she loved and wanted to spend the rest of her life with.</p><p> </p><p>And as Elena tried to reconcile her love for Naomi with her frustration and anger at Naomi's actions, the door to the throne room opened, and the exact person that Elena had been thinking about walked into the room.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena?” said Naomi, slowly and humbly approaching the throne.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi,” Elena said softly, her expression and tone as stoic as it could be. The two looked at each other, standing about half the length of the throne room apart as Naomi worked up the courage to speak.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm.... I'm sorry that I went behind your back. I betrayed your trust, and your confidence, and I should have talked with you about the operation instead of sabotaging it in the way that I did. You trusted me, and I.... I.... I'll never betray you like that again.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi had begun hesitating, as she struggled not to get choked up during her apology. Elena started to reply, but Naomi had something else to say, as she clenched her fist and stepped forward, her eyes becoming more resolute and determined as her voice grew stronger as well.</p><p> </p><p>“But I'm <em>not </em>sorry for helping the women at the Pink Jaquin,” said Naomi. “I'm not going to apologize for doing the right thing. I'm sorry for the way in which I had to do it, but I'm glad I did it and I would do it again, and whatever action you take in response, I'm prepared to accept.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena rose from her throne, the stoic expression still on her face as she walked toward Naomi. Naomi grew slightly nervous, but didn't show it as Elena began walking toward her. When the two were just a few feet apart, Elena took a deep breath, then exhaled, and her expression softened as well. She looked into Naomi's eyes, and started to speak.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm... sorry too,” said Elena. “I'm sorry for getting so upset.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why? I deserved it, I betrayed your trust and went behind your back.”</p><p> </p><p>“You did what you thought was right, and honestly, it probably was,” said Elena. “And it wouldn't be the first time someone in this kingdom's done something to undermine authority. I mean, I used to go behind the Grand Council's back when I disagreed with one of their decisions.”</p><p><br/>
“I know, I helped you some of those times,” said Naomi, smiling slightly as she remembered some of her earlier adventures with Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“So I understand why you did what you did.”</p><p> </p><p>“But it doesn't make it right. You trusted me, that's why you made me your chancellor. We decide on things together, we don't go behind each other's backs... not just when it comes to Avalor, but... in our relationship too. You're my girlfriend now, and I did something to damage your trust... which I know will take a long time to rebuild. I promise, Elena, I'll never do something like that again.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena could see the intense regret on Naomi's face, and she immediately closed the gap between them, taking her friend's hands and lifting them up.</p><p> </p><p>“It's okay, Naomi. You haven't damaged anything. You still have my complete trust.”</p><p> </p><p>“Elena...” said Naomi, her eyes starting to water now. <em>She already trusts me again? After all that from before?</em></p><p> </p><p>“I love you, and love is about being able to trust the ones you love. You made a mistake, but you owned up to it. I made a mistake too... and I'm hoping you'll forgive me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Elena, there's nothing to forgive...”</p><p> </p><p>A tear slid down Naomi's face, and Elena immediately pulled her into a tight hug... followed by a quick peck on the lips, a sign that the love between them was still completely intact. They parted from the kiss, and walked back to the throne together.</p><p> </p><p>“So... we still have to settle this Pink Jaquin situation,” said Elena. “Obviously, I'm not going to be on board with legalizing prostitution in Avalor.”</p><p> </p><p>“I'm not asking you to legalize it, I'm asking you to tolerate it,” replied Naomi. “Work with a few select brothel owners, make sure they understand that prostitution is illegal and that their establishments can be raided at any time unless they follow a strict set of rules. Focus on arresting johns, go after the demand rather than the supply.”</p><p> </p><p>“You've thought a lot about this, Naomi,” said Elena, sounding somewhat impressed. “Just how long have you been looking out for your friends at the Pink Jaquin?”</p><p> </p><p>“For at least a year,” said Naomi. “Most of the johns Gabe's been arresting? Those are guys who got a little too... aggressive with the girls over there. Madame Valdez passed their names along to me, and I made sure they got pulled off the streets.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena couldn't help but smile. On the one hand, it was definitely an abuse of Naomi's power, albeit a slight one. On the other hand, she had no problem conceding that every single guy that ended up in Avalor's dungeons for soliciting prostitution over the last year definitely deserved it.</p><p> </p><p>“I hope you didn't tell him to rough them up, because the Royal Guard doesn't do that to prisoners,” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Well... there were a couple guys that treated the girls at the Jaquin really badly, and I... may have asked to go on a walk-along with Gabe for those, and there might have been some accidental low blows after the suspect started 'resisting'...”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi!” scolded Elena sharply.</p><p> </p><p>“I know, I know, I know... everything above book from now on.”</p><p> </p><p>“I'm not making any promises about how we're going to handle things regarding these brothels,” said Elena. “I'll need to have the Royal Guard inspect each and every single one, and even then, I have to make sure the city is safe. If these brothels start bringing in more crime, and people start getting hurt, they're gone, and I'll need your cooperation.”</p><p> </p><p>“And you'll have it, I promise,” said Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“Next time there's a raid on an establishment like that, I'll let you decide how things are handled with the workers. The recommended punishment for prostitution is a week in the dungeons, but it's only a recommendation, not a hard and fast law, and I'll let you decide what the punishment is for anyone we arrest in those raids.”</p><p> </p><p>“We'll both decide,” said Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>Elena smiled and nodded, and as the two stood in front of the throne together, they looked into each other's eyes warmly, so relieved that their argument had been resolved so quickly. Elena continued to hold Naomi's hands, looking into her eyes with admiration.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, you've always been someone who stands behind her convictions and who does what she thinks is right. I know why you've been protecting those girls... I know why you do everything you do, and it's one of the things I love most about you. You've never been afraid to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know, but I risked our relationship to protect that brothel,” said Naomi, still feeling some regrets.</p><p> </p><p>“Our relationship was never at risk,” replied Elena, just now realizing what she should have known all along. “I was mad, I was really upset, and I acted terribly back there... but I never stopped loving you, not even a tiny bit. We're going to disagree on things... lots of things, and I was upset that you went behind my back, but I know you'd never betray my trust about anything truly important.”</p><p> </p><p>“Important or not, I can't go behind your back like that. Not again.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” said Elena, gently stroking a few strands of Naomi's hair aside and looking into her beautiful blue eyes. “And I know I can trust you with anything... because I love you, Naomi.”</p><p> </p><p>“I love you too, Elena...” Naomi replied. She leaned up and kissed Elena passionately, tears streaking down her face as she did so. Elena reached up and wiped them all away, and held Naomi close until she stopped crying, kissing her until all her sadness and regret faded into memory.</p><p> </p><p>It took a little while for Naomi to stop crying... she didn't stop crying until she stopped thinking that she didn't deserve Elena. Finally, she realized that it didn't matter what she deserved, and that Elena would love her always.</p><p> </p><p>And Naomi felt Elena's lips part from hers at last, though the embrace continued, and one thought entered Naomi's mind as she and Elena held each other.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I'm the luckiest woman in the world.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Long May She Reign</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The Windflower Chronicles is being written as part of Elenaomi Week! This story, and all the other stories featured in this work, are part of an anthology. While some can be considered in the same continuity, they're not strictly connected or even sequential.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The queen's red dress still shimmered in the light of the sun pouring into the hallway. The servants and attendants still bowed, the palace floor was still as clean and luxurious as ever, and the morning air still smelled as sweet as it had every day for the past twenty years. As the queen walked down the long corridor toward the front door of the palace, she felt as happy and satisfied as ever, her life still a grand adventure even after all this time. Her hair was now somewhat shorter, much like her mother Lucia's had been while she was on the throne, though it was still brown and wavy, and bounced a bit as she walked.</p><p> </p><p>“Good morning, your majesty,” said Armando, his graying hair still well-kempt, his cheeks still as round as ever.</p><p> </p><p>“Good morning, Armando,” Elena replied happily, her voice still light and cheerful, but with the maturity and wisdom of a queen who had ruled for many years. “How are Marlena and the kids doing?”</p><p> </p><p>“Wonderful! Our oldest is about to enter the Avalor Science Academy, he's kind of nervous though...”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmmm... maybe Isabel can give him some pointers... I'll ask if she can visit with him today.”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure? I know she's so busy with her inventions...”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, she's always got time to meet people, you know that!”</p><p> </p><p>Elena stepped up to the door, and two members of the Royal Guard flanked her on either side, ready to open it for her. She reached up and gently pushed a strand of hair away from her face, wanting to look her best as she greeted her people... one very special person in particular.</p><p> </p><p>The doors to the palace opened, and Elena stepped out... and there she was, waiting.</p><p> </p><p>Naomi had gotten an early start to the day, but was now ready to meet with Elena, who greeted her with a smile and a gentle kiss on the hand, which always made Naomi smile.</p><p> </p><p>“We've got a busy morning ahead, Elena... ready to go meet with everyone?”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course, Naomi... I'm ready if you are.”</p><p> </p><p>“I'm always ready,” she said with a smile. While Elena's hair had gotten shorter over the years, Naomi's hair, still bright blonde, had gotten slightly longer, though it framed her face the same way it had when she was younger, as she tied most of it off into a ponytail behind her head. In contrast with Elena's fancy dress, Naomi dressed less gaudily, wearing a blue jacket over a frilled white shirt, and blue pants that complimented the jacket, while her big boots had been replaced with black flats with short heels. She was dressed like a royal chancellor, and she still held that title, though for the last eighteen years, she'd also held another.</p><p> </p><p>“Your majesty,” said a young man in a sailor's uniform, walking up to Naomi. “I'm here to report-”</p><p> </p><p>“Ugh! How many times do I have to tell people not to address me by 'your majesty'! It's just Naomi!”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, you are the princess of Avalor,” said Elena, who couldn't help but giggle at Naomi's insistence on not being addressed by her official royal title. “Princess Naomi Turner-Flores.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi smiled at hearing Elena mention her full name... but only Elena got to call her that, no one else! It embarrassed her to be addressed so formally... she'd never forgotten that she was just a girl from the port, and though she knew she was so much more than that, she also liked to stay true to her roots, even if she was technically royal by virtue of her marriage to the queen.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm sorry, Naomi... I'm just here to report that all the ships in the harbor are accounted for, we did the daily inspection and they're all ship shape!”</p><p> </p><p>“Excellent work, Leon!” said Naomi, giving the young sailor a friendly handshake.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“You... remember my name?”</p><p> </p><p>“I remember every sailor's name, why shouldn't I?”</p><p> </p><p>“There are so many of us...”</p><p> </p><p>“And you're all important, to Avalor and to me,” said Naomi. “Keep up the good work, okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, ma'am!” said Leon, saluting Naomi before rushing back to the port with a skip in her step.</p><p> </p><p>“Twenty years as chancellor, and you haven't lost your way with people,” said Elena, smiling proudly at her chancellor and wife. “Even after everything we've been through and everything we've seen, you're still the same humble girl from the port... and you're still the most beautiful woman in the Everrealm.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” said Naomi, before giving Elena a friendly elbow in the side. “And you still know how to lay it on real thick! Now c'mon, we've got stuff to do!”</p><p> </p><p>Twenty years of rule, and eighteen years of wedded bliss... Elena and Naomi had been on more adventures than either of them could count, and the adventures hadn't stopped with Elena's coronation. From being captured by pirates to being forced to put down a revolution led by a misguided young woman... to trips around the world, and even to other worlds entirely, Elena, Naomi, and their close friends had been through so much together, and everything they went through just brought them all closer. The two climbed into their carriage and rode through the streets of Avalor City, waving to the people, who all waved back at them. Their friends had gotten older, and there were many new faces, young people walking around, having adventures of their own. New buildings, and even new technology... thanks to Avalor's other princess Isabel, new innovations could be seen all around... Isabel even proposed the idea of something called a 'horseless carriage', though the early prototypes hadn't been successful.</p><p> </p><p>“It never gets old,” said Elena, leaning back in her seat across from Naomi. “Heading out into the city, seeing the people, making sure Avalor is running smoothly...”</p><p> </p><p>“Eh, gets old to me sometimes,” said Naomi, shrugging her shoulders. “I love Avalor, and I love ruling alongside you, but sometimes I've got to get away from it all, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm, thinking of planning another voyage? We'd have to let Isabel know ahead of time, but I'm sure she'd be okay with taking over again.”</p><p> </p><p>“The last time we took a nice long trip was more than a decade ago... man, we had the time of our lives, didn't we?”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi sighed wistfully as she remembered taking Elena sailing around the entire world, just the queen and her princess, traveling everywhere, seeing all the realms, going on adventures and spending time with each other. Isabel, who at the time had been 22, had been named temporary queen of Avalor, and she ruled much as Elena had, keeping everything going well and keeping everyone safe. It had been a big ask from Elena, but Isabel had been happy to do it, and proved herself a more than capable ruler... which was why Elena and Naomi had been so comfortable with their decision not to have a child of their own, ensuring that when Elena died, Isabel would be the one to take over Avalor, and then her descendents after that, continuing the royal line with her progeny.</p><p> </p><p>“We should pay a visit to the Central Orphanage, I'm sure everyone there will be happy to see us... plus, I'm kind of starving, I haven't had breakfast yet today,” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Oooh, me neither, way too much work to do after I got up, didn't have time even for a snack!” replied Naomi, before Elena directed the driver to take them to Avalor City's biggest orphanage, located right near the center of town.</p><p> </p><p>Elena and Naomi had considered having their own children, of course, with Gabe and Mateo both offering to make a donation if the queen and her princess had asked. Mateo also offered to look into a possible spell that would've allowed Elena and Naomi to have a child together, but both declined that as well... they also considered adoption, but after discussing the matter extensively, and after Elena spent long nights relating to Naomi what it was like to lose her parents, the two decided that instead of adopting one child, or two children, that they would adopt every orphaned child in Avalor... by starting a system of orphanages all across the kingdom that would rival anything else in the Everrealm. There were already orphanages in Avalor, including many good ones, but Elena was devoted to ensuring that no orphan in all of Avalor was allowed to go wanting, and launched one of the largest public works projects in the kingdom's history. Dozens of brand new orphanages were built all across the kingdom, and staffed with people handpicked by the queen and Naomi, people who loved children and would take care of them as good as any parent would... and the two also made sure to personally get to know every orphan in the entire kingdom, taking an interest in their upbringing, learning all of their names and what they liked to do, and scouring the kingdom in search of good homes for them. It was a project that consumed an enormous amount of the kingdom's resources and the queen and chancellor's time, but they both felt passionate enough about it that it was immensely rewarding for them, and they got to experience much of the joy of raising children despite not having children of their own.</p><p> </p><p>“I still think the new orphanages are the most rewarding thing I've done as queen,” said Elena, looking out the window to see the bright colors of the orphanage building as the carriage made its approach. “And I couldn't have done it without your planning and hard work, Naomi...”</p><p> </p><p>“It took a lot of people working hard to make it happen,” Naomi replied, though she beamed with pride as she too saw the orphanage come into view, its outside walls painted by some of the finest artists in Avalor, with one of the walls painted by the orphaned children themselves. “I'm glad everyone was willing to come together and build them...”</p><p> </p><p>The carriage parked in front of the building, and Elena and Naomi stepped out. Almost immediately, they were greeted by several children who'd been playing in the playground nearby. They called out to the queen and princess, surrounding them, jumping up and down excitedly, and going in for hugs, which the royal couple eagerly returned.</p><p> </p><p>“All right, all right, that's too much excitement this early in the day, it's time to get ready for school...” said a woman standing at the entrance to the orphanage, coming down the steps to greet the two visitors. “Ah, I should've expected this would be the reason for all the fuss.”</p><p> </p><p>“It's good to see you too, Anabel,” said Naomi, leaning in to hug her longtime friend, who had been working as the headmistress of the Central Orphanage for the past sixteen years, ever since it was built. “Hope we're not causing too much trouble.”</p><p> </p><p>“It's no bother, it's just when the queen and the princess show up, the kids stop paying attention to me! I guess I can't compete with royalty, but now they're too excited to learn!”</p><p> </p><p>“Now you kids need to pay attention to Miss Anabel, she and the staff are working very hard to make sure you're all well taken care of and well fed,” said Naomi sweetly, patting a young girl on the forehead as she did so. “Speaking of well fed, we were wondering if we could join all of you for breakfast today...”</p><p> </p><p>“If it's not too much trouble,” said Elena with a friendly smile.</p><p> </p><p>“For the queen? No trouble at all! For Naomi Turner, ehh....” Anabel began. Naomi stuck out her tongue in response, prompting all of the kids to laugh, and Naomi and Anabel were soon laughing along with them while Elena rolled her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Elena and Naomi had no problem eating breakfast at the Central Orphanage... like every other orphanage in Avalor, the meal was well-balanced, filling, and fit for royalty, even when the queen wasn't paying a visit. Elena and Naomi ate with the kids and staff, even telling the kids an exciting story about how Elena once rescued Naomi from a band of scheming lizardmen while retrieving a magical book for Mateo.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi was so upset by the time I finally showed up to free her!” said Elena, imitating the pouting face Naomi had been making.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm not used to being saved by the queen, okay? It's usually the other way around!” shouted Naomi, rolling her eyes but being only playfully angry, actually quite fond of how Elena told the story even if it had been a somewhat embarrassing incident for her.</p><p> </p><p>“Hehehe, did she say, 'it's about time you showed up!',” asked one of the girls, leaning in eagerly.</p><p> </p><p>“Actually, it was more like, 'mffl mmph mffl mmph'!” Elena recalled, placing her hand over her mouth to simulate the gag that had been over Naomi's during the rescue. The kids laughed again, and Naomi rolled her eyes even harder, while Anabel laughed and slapped her friend playfully on the back.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I bet you were furious!”</p><p> </p><p>“At myself for getting caught, mostly! Dumb lizard guys, I almost beat them myself but one of their tails tripped me up...”</p><p> </p><p>After the breakfast was finished, Elena and Naomi spent a bit more time with the kids, but their busy schedule meant that they needed to leave quite soon. As they left, Naomi gave her friend Anabel one last hug, and Anabel saw them off as they walked back to their carriage parked outside.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I'm so glad I recommended her for this job... </em>
  <span>thought Naomi, looking back at Anabel. </span>
  <em>No one knows how hard it is to be an orphan more than her... and because of her, I don't think any more little orphan girls will ever have to go through what she did. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The carriage then rode off, and Elena and Naomi smiled at each other as the orphanage faded out of sight.</p><p> </p><p>“I hope you weren't too embarrassed back there,” said Elena, blushing slightly and speaking in an apologetic tone. “I just really love telling that story.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, no worries, the kids loved hearing it,” replied Naomi with a reassuring smile. “Besides, I actually really liked that adventure. You were so brave, and the way you talked down those lizardmen was inspiring... you saved me <em>and </em>you found them a new home, <em>and </em>you retrieved the magic book for Mateo.”</p><p> </p><p>“You know, that was fifteen years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday,” said Elena with a sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“I remember <em>all </em>of our adventures together,” said Naomi, reaching over and placing her hand on Elena's knee. “Every moment.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena blushed fiercely, touched that Naomi still treasured all of their past adventures so much. Before she could say anything else, the carriage stopped, and a quick look out the window indicated that the two had reached the harbor, where a simulated naval operation was about to take place.</p><p> </p><p>“Guess it's time to go check on the war games,” said Naomi with a slight groan. She loved boats, and sailing, and swashbuckling adventure, but simulated naval combat was something she rather disliked. It wasn't that she had a distaste for war, she just found it boring... all those rules, and procedures, those salutes, those orders... those were more Gabe's thing, and she always teased him whenever he got overly formal with the military lingo.</p><p> </p><p>“Don't worry, we won't be too long,” said Elena, stepping out of the carriage with Naomi. As she and Naomi walked toward the harbor, the two were saluted by a multitude of officers, and Elena and Naomi saluted them back, though Naomi had to fight the urge to groan as she did so, putting on her best professional face for the occasion. The two continued walking until they came face to face with Avalor's top military official, surrounded by a group of senior officers.</p><p> </p><p>“Your majesty,” said Gabe, saluting Elena and Naomi with his top brass.</p><p> </p><p>“At ease, soldiers,” said Naomi, returning their salute with a mocking flourish at the end.</p><p> </p><p>“So, how's everyone looking this morning?” asked Elena. “I hear we've got a lot of new soldiers and sailors in the ranks.”</p><p> </p><p>“We do indeed, so I'm hoping they're ready to go,” said Gabe. “I'm confident with the training they've received, they'll be in ship shape for today's maneuvers.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena and Naomi surveyed the gathered recruits. Many of them were women, a legacy established by Antonia, who herself was now a living legend and one of Gabe's chiefs of staff, at the head of Avalor's expeditionary naval forces. She would have been present that morning, but she and Ixlan were on a special mission to investigate a mysterious presence at the edge of one of the seventeen seas, said to be an ancient skeleton crew returned to life. It was a dangerous mission, but Antonia and Ixlan were an unstoppable team, and with their skills and their love for each other, Elena had no doubt that the two would come back safe as they always had.</p><p> </p><p>“So, what's today's mission?” asked Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Today, the recruits are to do battle with an enemy navy led by a dangerous pirate warlord,” said Gabe, his arms crossed over his chest.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm assuming your wife will be playing the role of the warlord,” Naomi replied with a smirk. “I hope she doesn't go too hard on them...”</p><p> </p><p>“I've told Alma to hold back a little bit this time, but only just a little,” said Gabe. “...we can't have a repeat of what happened last year.”</p><p> </p><p>“When the entire class of new recruits came back tied up on the deck of Alma's flagship,” said Elena, trying to hold back a snicker.</p><p> </p><p>“That was hilarious!” shouted Naomi, not even bothering to hold back, her chest convulsing with laughter. “Every day, I'm more and more glad I didn't stab that woman.”</p><p> </p><p>“We've ramped up the training, so an incident like that won't happen again!” said Gabe, though he was blushing slightly as he remembered the failure of the previous year... while silently admiring just how tough his wife was, and how tough their three kids were becoming as well. “This time, a few of the recruits can even best my oldest son in a swordfight!”</p><p> </p><p>“...really? Some of them actually managed to take Roberto down, huh?” said Naomi, looking genuinely impressed. “Was he holding back too?”</p><p> </p><p>“No! ...maybe a little,” said Gabe. “I mean, he is 14, so these recruits aren't that much older than he is!”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, you should be proud of your kids, it's pretty good that they can beat up grown soldiers,” said Elena. “I wish we could stay and watch the war games, but Mateo's been researching something and he needs my advice... make sure to let me know how they did, okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, ma'am,” said Gabe, saluting Elena before turning to Naomi. “Naomi, I thought you didn't like war games, but you seem almost disappointed to leave...”</p><p> </p><p>“That's before I remembered how bad your recruits got humiliated last year,” she said with a snicker. Gabe glared at her, and Naomi reached over and gave him a hug. “C'mon, I'm just teasing... I wouldn't tease you if you weren't so fun to tease. You know I love you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah yeah, love you too, princess,” said Gabe, returning the hug and the tease, and enjoying the brief pout on Naomi's face as she blanched at the formal title. “Tell Mateo I said hi, and that he still needs to give back that magic sword I lent him!”</p><p> </p><p>Elena and Naomi gave Gabe and the recruits one last wave before boarding the carriage to head to the Royal Magical Academy. Constructed in the past decade, the building was near enough to the palace to allow Mateo to perform his royal wizard duties and consult with the queen regularly, but also had enough space to freely practice magic and train up a new generation of court wizards, while also providing ample living quarters for Mateo and his family.</p><p> </p><p>“I still remember how we first met Alma, too,” said Elena, recalling the day when Alma and her band of pirates had captured the queen and Naomi, who at that time was just Elena's girlfriend, not yet her wife. “Still hard to believe she and Gabe became a thing, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sometimes it's hard to believe we even became friends, but I'm glad we did,” replied Naomi. “I used to have nightmares about that day, since it's one of the closest times I've come to losing you... but after I came to forgive Alma and the others, the nightmares stopped completely. I'm glad I forgave them... I don't think I'd have had the strength to do it if you hadn't done it first.”</p><p> </p><p>“If I could forgive Esteban, I could forgive Alma,” said Elena, reaching over and taking Naomi's hands. “And now Avalor and Pezandri are close allies... Pezandri's a thriving port country, and there hasn't been a pirate attack from there in nearly 15 years...”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, save for Alma's pirate attacks on Avalor's new naval recruits every year,” said Naomi. “I'm glad she and Gabe found each other... I think they're a perfect match, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>“Gabe definitely has a type,” said Elena, her hand tightening around Naomi's. Naomi laughed, remembering when she and Gabe had had a crush on one another... she still found him quite handsome and charming, though she'd moved on from that the moment she realized how much Elena loved her, and never looked back.</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm, he has good taste,” said Naomi. “Then again, so do you.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena and Naomi never got tired of flirting with each other... in much the same way that Elena's grandparents still flirted after they'd been together for so long. Though both of them were now pushing 90, they were still as lively and energetic as ever, and could often be seen relaxing around the palace, Elena's grandpa Francisco still playing his guitar, Elena's grandma Luisa still cooking large meals for anyone who was hungry. They'd gotten a bit slower in their old age, but their love for each other and for life kept them strong, and though Elena never once took them for granted, having learned never to take anyone for granted after losing her parents so early on, she fully expected both of them to be around even after she and Naomi had started getting gray hairs... which, considering how healthy and fit the two of them managed to keep themselves, was also likely still a good long time away.</p><p> </p><p>They continued flirting the entire carriage ride to the academy, and were beaming when they stepped out together, making their way inside and walking down to the lecture hall where Mateo often gave lessons to young magic students. On this particular day, however, the lecture hall was empty of students... but Mateo was still inside, practicing a spell as the queen and princess entered the room.</p><p><br/>
“Mateo, is it a bad time?” asked Elena, watching as he carefully concentrated while pointing his tambourita at a distant target.</p><p> </p><p>“Actually, no,” replied Mateo. He'd grown into a mature wizard, slightly taller than he'd been at Elena's coronation, dressed in ornate red robes and sporting a goatee and thin mustache, with somewhat unkempt brown hair. “I still need your help with that research... just... let me finish this spell... delagia!”</p><p> </p><p>A long wisp of water blasted out of Mateo's tambourita, and flew off toward the other end of the lecture hall, where a woman clad in purple robes was standing, waiting for the spell to come her way. She smiled, and waved her own tambourita in the air, crystallizing the water into ice and forming a massive bird-like sculpture from the now frozen liquid.</p><p> </p><p>“Not quite strong enough, that was way too easy to counter!” shouted the woman, brushing the purple highlights from her face, as her violet eyes glanced over to their guests. “Elena, Naomi, it's good to see you! Wanna go for a quick doubles duel?”</p><p> </p><p>“Not today, Carla, not after last time,” said Naomi, wincing slightly as she remembered the last magic duel she'd had with Mateo and Carla. “You know I'm not nearly as good at magic as any of you!”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I'm always available for lessons,” said Mateo, walking over to Elena and Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“No thanks, magic was never my thing,” replied Naomi, who had only started taking lessons so that she'd be better at protecting Elena... but without a natural talent for magic, she knew she'd have to devote herself to it for years before she got even close to Elena's magical ability. “I don't even think I could keep up with Viviana.”</p><p> </p><p>“True, though it's funny watching you try,” said Carla with a smirk, joining Mateo and the royal couple.</p><p> </p><p>“She always teases me when she wins!” said Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm, she takes after her mom, I think,” replied Mateo, looking over at Carla. “So, Elena, about that spell...”</p><p> </p><p>As the four began walking the halls of the Academy together, Mateo and Elena discussed the royal wizard's latest research... a spell that had the potential to identify hidden sources of magical power throughout Avalor, such as Elena's royal scepter, or the Well of Crystals that had given Esteban his magical powers and had enhanced Elena's.</p><p> </p><p>“If we can find these other magical sources, which I call 'fonts', we'd be able to pre-emptively cut off any attempt by any would-be villains from stealing that magic and taking over Avalor,” said Mateo.</p><p> </p><p>“It's important that we find them and seal off the magic... we don't want anyone doing what my mom tried to do,” said Carla. “She almost got the magic from the Well of Crystals, and when she came back, she was able to find the Hellblade, and... we all know what happened then....”</p><p> </p><p>“Your mom returned from the Spirit World, raised an army of the dead, found that sword, and nearly destroyed Avalor,” said Naomi. “We know... it was probably the closest we've ever come to losing it all, even closer than we came with Shuriki or when we fought the Four Shades...”</p><p> </p><p>Carla bowed her head... despite the events taking place more than eighteen years before, it was still fresh within her mind... her mother, taking revenge on everyone, including Carla herself... and Carla ultimately having to be the one to put her own mother down for good. She looked down at the scar on her hand, from the spell she used to slay Ash, a daily reminder of what she'd done, and what she'd lost... but had only to look at Mateo and her two children to remember what she'd gained, with the help of her father, and Gabe, and Naomi, and of course, Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Fortunately, no one's been able to find a font since then, and once we cast this spell, no one ever will,” said Mateo.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, except for us,” replied Elena. “Someone's going to have to go around finding and sealing up the fonts... and I volunteer myself and Naomi.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, there's no way I'm letting you guys take on a mission like that by yourselves,” said Mateo. “No doubt Gabe would want to come along too.”</p><p> </p><p>“A grand adventure, just like back in the old days,” said Naomi with a smile. She looked at Carla, who smiled back at her... despite everything the two had been through, once bitter enemies, the two were now close friends, and tried to spend as much time together as they could. “Think you'd be able to come along too? We could use your magic in case any bad guys try to mess with us.”</p><p> </p><p>“I'm not sure... I mean, I need to look after the kids...”</p><p> </p><p>“Bring 'em along!” said Naomi. “Viviana's the same age as Isabel when she started going on adventures with us, and Teodore's not too much younger. ...or you could leave 'em with Victor, he loves spending time with his grandkids. Just don't leave them with Rafa, she'd spoil them and they'd never want to leave!”</p><p> </p><p>“I don't like leaving the kids at all,” said Carla, who had devoted the last thirteen years of her life to being a far, far better mother to her two children than Ash had ever been to her. “It might be better to take them along... I mean, I'm sure Gabe and Alma's kids would want to come along.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yeah, they've been dying to go on adventures just like their dad... but I think they're all probably a bit too young,” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Gabe's kids beat up Royal Guard recruits on the regular, they're totally ready for adventure, and Viviana's a way better wizard than Mateo was when he was her age,” said Naomi, prompting a harsh glare from Mateo. “What? It's totally true.”</p><p> </p><p>“You didn't even know me when I was Viviana's age!” said Mateo, crossing his arms over his chest.</p><p> </p><p>“You're right, I met you when you were fifteen and Viviana at thirteen is still way better,” teased Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>The four friends walked the halls of the academy, discussing spells and adventures and everything else that had been going on in their lives... and just like with Alma, Elena and Naomi were glad to have given Carla another chance, and glad that she'd found love with one of their closest friends. Mateo had once been deeply in love with Elena, and still loved her, though as a dear friend and confidant rather than a potential girlfriend. He was a great friend, a great wizard, and a great man, and as Naomi watched Elena and Mateo discuss what was likely to be their next adventure, she couldn't help but imagine a world where the two of them had gotten together. It made her a bit sad, as she never would have had Elena, but at the same time, she knew that the two of them would have made each other incredibly happy... in the end, of course, Naomi was quite happy with how everything played out... she and Elena, together forever, ruling the kingdom of Avalor and looking out for each other, while all their old friends were still close, still in their lives, still going on adventures from time to time... and she couldn't wait for the next one.</p><p> </p><p>“So... sometime next week, I think the spell will be ready to cast,” said Mateo. “I'll meet you at the palace, and we can use your scepter to cast it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sounds like a plan,” said Elena. “Let me know if there's anything you need, and you'll have the full resources of the kingdom at your disposal.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks, Elena,” said Mateo. Though his voice had deepened and his face had matured, he still had the same youthful enthusiasm that he'd had when he and Elena had first met and when he'd helped her to liberate the kingdom from Shuriki, twenty-four years ago. “Carla and I are teaching classes in about an hour, but maybe you can come back and meet us for lunch later today?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure thing,” replied Elena. “Naomi, I think we should head back to the palace, I've got some paperwork to do...”</p><p> </p><p>“So do I,” said Naomi. “Think we have enough time to drop in on Isabel?”</p><p> </p><p>“I think we have a little,” Elena replied. “Hopefully you know who hasn't left for school yet...”</p><p> </p><p>Elena and Naomi waved goodbye to Mateo and Carla, before making their way back out to their carriage to head back to the palace. Normally, they would've been content to walk the short distance between the academy and the palace, but in order to make time for Isabel, they'd need to get back as soon as they could, and the carriage would shave several minutes off their trip. They entered the palace through a special side door, a door that led directly to the wing where Isabel and her family lived, and where most of her experiments were conducted... hopefully none too explosive today. Isabel was usually careful, but science had a way of producing unexpected results, and the royal maintenance team was always on standby during Isabel's more volatile research.</p><p> </p><p>They entered the main research facility, a large, open hangar-like room that had been constructed on the eastern wing of the palace. From the outside, the room blended in quite well with the architecture, but inside, the room was more like an enormous garage than a palatial chamber. Its ceiling was lined with steel beams rather than brick and ceramic, while its floor was solid concrete, built to withstand the tremendous forces that Isabel and her research assistants occasionally subjected it to. The room was filled with various tools and machines, with numerous cranes suspended from the ceiling and attached to the walls, random contraptions and gears built into the pillars and walls, and even what appeared to be a giant robot standing at the center of the room, though from the somewhat incomplete state of its construction, it appeared to be an ongoing experimental project rather than a fully complete prototype. Though the faint sound of hissing and grinding could be heard as Naomi and the queen entered the room, Isabel was nowhere to be seen.</p><p> </p><p>“Isa?” Elena called out, looking around the room for any sign of her sister. Suddenly, from above, a person appeared, dangling from a crane above Elena and Naomi's head. The person was dressed in what appeared to be a brown trenchcoat, with brown boots on their feet and numerous metallic implements dangling from their body. Their eyes were concealed with solid black goggles, while on their head, they wore a brown leather cap. Elena would've been startled, but this was a fairly normal entrance for her sister, even after it had become clear that she would be the heir apparent to the throne, and she simply smiled and allowed Isabel to introduce herself at her own pace. “Good morning.”</p><p> </p><p>“Morning, Elena!” Isabel said cheerfully, pressing a small lever on her goggles to transform them into normal clear ones, and deploying a set of metallic wings from her trenchcoat, which opened to reveal a an apron and a pair of black bloomers as Isabel descended to the ground and flipped back over into a normal standing position. “What brings you to the lab?”</p><p> </p><p>“Just paying a visit to my favorite sister,” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“You mean your <em>only </em>sister,” Isabel replied, before turning to face Naomi. “Hey, Naomi! Busy day?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but we'll always make time for you, Isabel.”</p><p> </p><p>Despite the eccentricity of Isabel's outfit, Isabel herself was very much a normal woman in her mid 30s. Both the crown princess of Avalor and the leader of its science and technology department, she had been at the forefront of Avalor's push into its industrial revolution, though rather than focusing on coal and oil, which Isabel knew existed deep beneath the Avaloran soil and could be used for fuel but was also extremely heavily polluting, Isabel instead focused all her research on steam power, and had invented hundreds of devices to run on steam or to utilize it more efficiently. She didn't have the kingdom's electrical grid up and running, a project that she estimated might take at least a few more decades, but she was working tirelessly to get the kingdom moving faster and faster, and hoped that Avalor's industrial revolution would spread to the rest of the Everrealm, ushering in a new age of science and technology.</p><p> </p><p>“So what's the project today?” asked Elena. She took a look around Isabel's lab, which was staffed by some of Avalor's most brilliant scientists, including Tomiko, Isabel's old friend from the academy. Tomiko waved at the two before returning to her work, excitedly conversing with one of her fellow scientists about an object that looked almost like a miniature engine. “Still working on that horseless carriage you've been telling me about?”</p><p> </p><p>“We're on the verge of getting it to run on steam power, but it's still tricky,” said Isabel. “It's hard to make it run without needing to use a lot more water, but that would increase the weight, which in turn increases the power requirements... but I think Tomiko and I have figured out a breakthrough. There's a new kind of engine that'll drastically increase the amount of power we can get from just a small amount of water, but the engine breaks down quickly, so we've got to figure out a way to get it to stay intact for long trips. It'll take a bit more work... in the meantime, I've got another team working on a pipe that can circulate water much faster, which should theoretically allow for every home in Avalor City to have electrical power... but the pipe material is prohibitively expensive, so I've been researching materials for that...”</p><p> </p><p>As Isabel continued to converse with Elena, Naomi began to look around the lab, searching for one person in particular. She looked behind desks, around crates, and even near some of the cranes, but the person in question hadn't yet turned up.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Guess she's gone off to school already... </em>
  <span>thought Naomi. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>A large wisp of steam could be seen behind the unfinished robot, drawing Elena and Naomi's attention to that corner of the room. Isabel smiled and walked over to the steam cloud, leading her sister and sister-in-law over.</p><p> </p><p>“Looks like today's homework is done,” said Isabel, wiping some fog from her goggles. “Did the reaction come out all right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Boom goes the cannon!” shouted the triumphant voice of a young girl from within the steam cloud. When the cloud cleared, Elena and Naomi could see the girl standing proudly with a pair of test tubes in hand. The girl had light brown hair with dark brown streaks, and was wearing a pair of clear goggles like Isabel's, along with a white lab coat.</p><p> </p><p>“That's great work, Lucia! Looks like the titration of your mixture was correct... mostly, there's a bit more steam here than the calculations indicated...”</p><p> </p><p>“Once I started pouring, I couldn't stop myself!” said the girl, before looking up at the queen and her chancellor. “Aunt Elena! Aunt Naomi!”</p><p> </p><p>“C'mere, ya little steampunk!” said Naomi happily, walking over and tenderly rubbing her knuckles against the top of the girl's head before wrapping her up in a gentle hug. “Hope you're not planning on blowing yourself up today!”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, isn't it dangerous to keep pouring after you're supposed to stop?” asked Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“It's okay, I made sure the mixture was right before I started pouring!” Lucia replied. At just eight years old, the daughter of Crown Princess Isabel and Prince James of Enchancia was one of the smartest young girls in the kingdom... which was a good sign for the future queen of Avalor. “Mom says that someday, the whole kingdom's gonna run on steam!”</p><p> </p><p>“Or wind, or maybe even solar power,” said Isabel, smiling proudly at her daughter. She'd been named for the grandmother who she'd never met, and had both her namesake's courageous spirit and her mother's prodigious intelligence... along with her father's proclivity for cannons. “It's important for scientists to keep all their options open!”</p><p> </p><p>“Isn't it about time for school?” asked Elena, looking out the window at the position of the sun in the sky.</p><p> </p><p>“<span>School starts a couple hours late today, the teacher asked the class to spend the morning doing an experiment, and then they're going to come to school and report the results to the class!” said Isabel. “Lucia asked me if I'd help her generate steam from a mixture of two chemical compounds, and we spent the last hour trying to figure out which compounds could make the most steam safely! It looks like we found the right ones, didn't we?”</span></p><p> </p><p>“Mmmhmm!” said Lucia, before naming the compounds she used and launching into a scientific explanation of just why those compounds were the optimal ones for the experiment. Both Elena and Naomi looked slightly confused at the girl's explanation, while Isabel just smiled and listened, her face beaming with pride. “Did you guys get all that?”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh huh...” said Elena, slowly nodding her head.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, Lucia!” cheered Naomi, giving her precocious niece a thumbs up. “Yeah, science!”</p><p> </p><p>Lucia giggled... even though she was only eight, she could tell that science wasn't her aunts' area of expertise, but she was always glad to show off her experiments to them, and she loved hearing stories about their adventures saving the kingdom. They would've shared another of their stories with her, but Elena knew that she and Naomi needed to return to the royal chambers to complete their paperwork, even if neither of them really wanted to go.</p><p> </p><p>“We've gotta get back,” said Elena, sighing but smiling as she leaned over to hug her sister. “I'm glad I got the chance to visit today...”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, maybe you could come have lunch with me and Elena later?” said Naomi. “It'll be us two, Mateo, and Carla, down at the wizard academy... think you can make it?”</p><p> </p><p>“I should have some time after dropping off Lucia,” said Isabel.</p><p> </p><p>“Aww... I want to eat lunch with Aunt Elena and Aunt Naomi too!” pouted Lucia.</p><p> </p><p>“It's okay, we'll all have dinner together tonight, and I'll have the chef make your favorite food, okay?” said Elena, smiling as she leaned down and kissed her niece on the forehead.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay!” chirped Lucia happily.</p><p> </p><p>“But only if you're good at school, okay Lucia?” Naomi said, raising a finger.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm always good at school, I love school!” Lucia told her. Naomi smiled and booped Lucia on the nose, making her niece giggle. “See you later!”</p><p> </p><p>Elena and Naomi left the lab, their spirits lifted by their meeting with Isabel and her daughter. They still had a busy morning of paperwork ahead of them, but they had their friends and they had each other... and they held each other's hands as they walked down the hallway leading back to the main section of the palace. They could hear Francisco's voice off in the distance, delivering a mid-morning serenade to Luisa, and as they continued to walk, they could hear Esteban having a friendly argument with Dona Paloma.</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Now I </span><em>definitely </em><span>can't believe they became a thing,” said Naomi, referring to the former chancellor and Avalor's most successful merchant.</span></p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I saw that one coming a mile away,” replied Elena with a smirk.</p><p> </p><p>“Did not!” said Naomi playfully.</p><p> </p><p>“Did so!” replied Elena, continuing her own friendly argument with her wife all the way back to the Grand Council room, where a stack of papers was waiting for them both. “...I wonder how many people saw us coming.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi smiled, and sometimes she wondered that herself... who could have imagined, the crown princess and the girl from the port... for a while, even they didn't know it was going to become anything more than friendship. It wasn't that the two were both girls... same-sex relationships were seen as normal as any other type of relationship, all across the Everrealm and especially in Avalor. It had been a couple of centuries since Avalor had seen a royal wedding between two people of the same sex, but the wedding had been beautiful, heartfelt, and spectacular, the most extravagant wedding that Avalor had ever seen... and like any of their adventures, Elena and Naomi both remembered it as if it had just happened... and they always would.</p><p> </p><p>“I like to think it was a nice surprise for everyone... and that once everyone saw us together, they all slapped their foreheads and wondered why they hadn't figured it out before,” said Naomi, looking into Elena's eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“You mean just like you did after the first time I kissed you?”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn't slap my forehead,” said Naomi, blushing and giggling. “Well... not physically.”</p><p> </p><p>“We sure made up for lost time though,” said Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“We sure did,” replied Naomi, smiling as she leaned in to give her wife a tender kiss on the lips. “Guess we'd better get to that paperwork, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah...” said Elena, parting from Naomi as the two entered the Grand Council room together.</p><p> </p><p>“Make up for lost time later?” asked Naomi, as she and Elena took their seats next to one another at the table.</p><p> </p><p>“You know it,” Elena replied. She was almost tempted to say to hell with the paperwork and 'make up for lost time' right there with Naomi on the Grand Council table... it definitely wouldn't be the first time, though it was always embarrassing when she had to lie to Armando afterward about why he needed to clean the table twice in one morning... but on this particular day, she'd be satisfied looking into Naomi's eyes and occasionally playing a little footsie.</p><p> </p><p>Naomi would be satisfied as well... she and Elena had all the time in the world now.</p><p> </p><p>O-O-O</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That night, after lunch with Isabel, Mateo, and Carla, after more paperwork, more meetings, learning the results of the day's war games (the new recruits had beaten Alma this time! Barely!), dinner at the palace, and relaxing with a good book, Elena and Naomi had retreated to the royal bedchambers, and had, as they had many, many thousands of times before in the eighteen years since becoming married (or, truthfully, in the nineteen and a half years since they'd started dating), made passionate, intense, ferocious love to one another, the spark still burning as brightly as it ever had all those years ago... in fact, it burned more brightly than ever.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>Elena and Naomi held each other close, the sheets pulled over both of them, nothing between them. Naomi's hair had been freed from its ponytail, and Elena was stroking it softly, occasionally leaning over to kiss Naomi's sweat-dampened forehead. Their love for one another was still so strong, and it made both of them stronger as well. Through all their years of ruling, protecting, caring for Avalor, they had also cared for each other, and their love had pushed them both to do incredible, heroic, impossible things, all in the name of the other.</p><p> </p><p>“Tired...” Naomi moaned softly, nuzzling her face into the nape of Elena's neck, planting kisses on it when she could, groaning with the exhaustion of the day and the night. “Love you though.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mmmm....” Elena tenderly groaned, kissing the top of Naomi's head before stroking her hand softly down her lover's back, stopping just below her waist. Naomi smiled and cooed, stroking her foot against Elena's and nuzzling even more tenderly into her neck, content with basking in the tenderness of her queen's touch and the warmth of her presence. “Love you too... but yeah... tired...”</p><p> </p><p>Elena knew she wouldn't be able to rule the kingdom without Naomi by her side... not because she wasn't smart enough, or devoted enough, but because Naomi's love strengthened her, and she trusted Naomi's judgment in everything... she held so many lives in her hands, and that burden was too big for any one person, even for someone as strong as Elena.</p><p> </p><p>And as for Naomi... she didn't have any special powers, and even though she was a princess by title, she was just an ordinary woman, with a few skills and a good instinct, but otherwise fairly average... but thanks to Elena, she knew she was someone special... if Elena could love her so fiercely, she had to be. Because of Elena, Naomi had discovered who she truly was... a hero, with the courage to save the world. When she was with Elena, Naomi felt like she could do anything... and she would do anything for Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Same thing tomorrow then?” asked Naomi. “More paperwork, royal business, stuff like that?”</p><p> </p><p>“Mmhmm,” replied Elena, yawning softly. “Unless adventure happens... it tends to happen around here, you know.”</p><p> </p><p>It did, though not quite as often as it used to, and Naomi often thought back to the days when it seemed like there was a new adventure just about every day... but when she looked into Elena's eyes and felt the tenderness of her touch, she knew she didn't need to go on adventures quite so often anymore.</p><p> </p><p>“Sounds good to me,” said Naomi, smiling warmly and leaning up to give Elena one more kiss on the lips before the two fell asleep together. Elena moaned as Naomi kissed her, and held her close as the two fell asleep, closing their eyes and drifting off together peacefully. “Good night, Elena...”</p><p> </p><p>“Good night, Naomi...”</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sometimes, they dreamed of adventure... but even the most exhilarating dream couldn't compare to their perfect reality. Queen Elena Castillo Flores and Princess Naomi Turner-Flores had found the sweetest dream in each other's arms, a dream that would keep going even after they woke up together in their bed... a dream destined to last forever. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Will You Be My Chancellor?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The Windflower Chronicles is being written as part of Elenaomi Week! This story, and all the other stories featured in this work, are part of an anthology. While some can be considered in the same continuity, they're not strictly connected or even sequential.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Naomi had never been this nervous before, and she'd been on countless adventures where the lives of her and her friends were in legitimate danger. She'd been threatened, attacked, and cursed, and yet, she had never been more afraid than she was at this moment. It had been a little more than a year since she'd become chancellor of Avalor, and more than six months since she'd started dating the queen, Elena. A few short weeks ago, she and her friends had defeated Ash Delgado... again, after she'd escaped the Spirit World and had threatened all of Avalor, and indeed, all of the Everrealm with an army of dead villains, including Shuriki, the tyrant who had murdered Queen Elena's parents. That particular adventure had brought countless close calls and frightening moments, and yet, as Naomi stood in her familiar white shirt and green dress, pacing back and forth in her room at the palace with her parents looking on, she was terrified. Her hands and legs were trembling, she was looking up and down and all around... and in her trembling hands she held a single small brown box, which she kept opening and closing, not even looking at the ring inside.</p><p> </p><p>“I can't do this!” shouted Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course you can, dear,” said her father. He and Naomi's mother Scarlett walked over, and he placed his hand on Naomi's shoulder to calm her down.</p><p> </p><p>“We've seen you do so many things. You've been the best chancellor Avalor's ever had. You've saved the kingdom... you've saved the queen. You've sailed around the world... you're ready for this,” said Scarlett, holding her hand over Naomi's as she once again opened the box she held in her hands. “All you have to do is ask.”</p><p> </p><p>“That's just the thing,” said Naomi. “How do you ask a queen to marry you?”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi looked down at the ring. It was a simple gold ring with a small white pearl that Naomi herself had plucked from the bottom of the sea during a recent adventure.</p><p> </p><p>“One little pearl,” Naomi said with a sigh. “Elena deserves diamonds, rubies, sapphires, the most beautiful ring in the kingdom, and all I'm giving her is a little pearl ring!”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, listen to yourself,” said Scarlett. “The Naomi we know would say that all those things are gaudy and pointless, that jewels are way too fancy and they sparkle so much it hurts your eyes.”</p><p> </p><p>“<span>I know, but Elena's a </span><em>queen</em><span>,” said Naomi, sighing again.</span></p><p> </p><p>“And she's also your best friend,” replied her father. “Besides, how long have you two been dating already?”</p><p> </p><p>“Nine months, four days,” said Naomi. “Not even a year and I'm already asking her to marry me! Ugggh, she's probably going to think I'm desperate, or that I'm just after her royal title or something!”</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Elena would </span><em>never </em><span>think that of you,” said her father. “She admires you, I've seen it. She looks at you the same way I always looked at your mother when we were first dating...”</span></p><p> </p><p>“Ha, you're right about that!” said Scarlett, leaning in and kissing her husband's cheek. “She's head over heels for you... she's always blushing when the two of you are together. Even during important royal meetings, she has trouble keeping it together. You have a serious effect on her... but one look at you and it's easy to see why. You've grown into a strong, brave, wise, confident young woman. You're far more accomplished than I was at your age, and you throw yourself completely into everything you do.”</p><p> </p><p>“And you're a hero as well,” said Daniel. “You fought more bravely than anyone your mother and I have ever seen. When those villains came into Avalor, who stood up to them and defended the harbor? Who saved Mateo and Gabe after they were captured by that strange plant woman? Who stood up to Shuriki when no one else would?”</p><p> </p><p>“She trapped Elena, of course I was going to stand up to her,” said Naomi.</p><p> </p><p>“Stand up to her? You cursed her out and dared her to kill you, armed with nothing more than your bare hands and a compass!” said Scarlett proudly. “If your father and I hadn't been absolutely terrified that she was going to blast you, we'd have been cheering you on!”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, well, anybody can be brave... lots of the knights were brave too,” said Naomi, her own nervousness causing her to downplay her accomplishments. She looked at the pearl ring again, closing the box and sighing. “Maybe I should wait a few more weeks? Until all the cleanup from Ash's invasion is finished?”</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, if you can't do this now, it's okay,” said Daniel. He and Scarlett stood on either side of Naomi, continuing to give her encouraging looks, wanting to remind their daughter that they approved of everything she did, no matter what. “You don't ever have to ask Elena to marry you if you don't want to.”</p><p> </p><p>“That's right... I don't want you to feel like we're pressuring you... we just want you to have more confidence in yourself, because we both believe in you.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi looked at both of her parents and pulled them in close, hugging them tightly to her. They'd always encouraged her when she felt down, and they were the first people to make her think she was more than just an ordinary girl doomed to a life as a plain old sailor. They were the first, and after them, Elena. Elena had given Naomi everything... a place to belong, a purpose to her life, the means to accomplish her dreams... but even after she'd done more in just 21 short years than most people would ever do in their entire lives, she had one last dream she wanted to fulfill.</p><p> </p><p>A life of happiness with the person she loved... in Naomi's case, Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks, mom... thanks, dad... I'll try to remember what you said, but I think I still need some time,” said Naomi, looking down at the box containing the ring.</p><p> </p><p>“If you need us, you know where to find us, Naomi,” said Daniel, kissing his daughter on top of her head, while Scarlett kissed her on the cheek.</p><p> </p><p>“We'll always be here,” said Scarlett. As she and Daniel left the room, Naomi opened the box again and sat down on the bed. She kicked her legs back and forth, thinking about the ring and about Elena, and everything they'd been through in their time as friends.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I love her, </em>
  <span>thought Naomi, clutching the box containing the ring to her chest. She loved Elena so much it hurt... her stomach was churning, and her hands and feet tingled with anticipation. </span>
  <em>I love her, and I don't want to make her feel bad... what if it's too soon to ask her, and it ruins everything between us? I know what mom said, that she'd never think badly of me, but I've never done anything this crazy before! Asking her to marry me?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>On top of that, Elena was the queen of Avalor... rulers were expected to produce heirs, and Elena and Naomi obviously couldn't. The fact that they were both women wasn't a problem in and of itself... the people of Avalor had never discriminated against same-sex couples, and couples consisting of two men and two women could frequently be seen around Avalor, mingling, showing affection, and living as married families, adopting kids and raising them as their own. Naomi's own friends Antonia and Ixlan had been dating for nearly a year as well, and had announced their engagement just before Ash's return, to much fanfare and celebration.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It's not that Avalor would be upset... it's that... Elena might feel a responsibility to produce an heir. She's always put everyone else before her own happiness, especially when it comes to matters of the kingdom. I mean, I guess there are ways me and Elena could have a kid... adoption... magic... Isabel's really smart, but... she's more of a mechanical scientist, not a biological one. Isabel... if Elena and I didn't have a kid, then Isabel would become queen when Elena.... ugh, I don't even want to think about it. Just the thought of Elena dying, even in like 80 years of old age, it makes me so sad! I love her, of course I love her, so of course thinking of anything happening to her freaks me out! I want to be with her so much... I have to ask her... but I'm so scared...!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi fell to her knees, almost in a prayer-like stance, still holding that box in her hand. She cleared her throat, opened the box, and pretended to present it to an imaginary Elena.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena, will you marry me?” said Naomi, her voice shaking with nervousness. “No, no, no, that's not right...!”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi cleared her throat again.</p><p> </p><p>“Queen Elena.... of Avalor... will you marry me? ...no! Too formal, too stuffy, I have to be myself!”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi took a deep breath, and smiled, looking into a distant mirror and holding up the ring almost as if she didn't care.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Elena, so, uh.... think you might... wanna marry me? ...no, that's terrible!”</p><p> </p><p>As Naomi fretted, she nearly fumbled the box. She managed to save it, but the ring fell out and began rolling across the room.</p><p> </p><p>“No!” she shouted again, diving for the ring and managing to get her hands over it before it would have slid into a crack in the room's floor. She breathed a sigh of relief, holding the ring tightly in her hands and pulling it tightly to her body, clenching it for dear life and looking at herself in the mirror again. She was a mess... her hair was frazzled, her face was flushed, her eyes looked tired... could she really propose to Elena in this state? Could she really propose to her at all? “I can't do this...”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi put the ring back in the box and started to close it again... then looked at herself in the mirror, and at the pearl ring, plain but pretty, shimmering slightly in the sunlight. She'd gotten that pearl herself, diving down deeper into the ocean than she ever had before. She'd gotten that pearl for Elena... and she'd have went down ten times deeper if she had to.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I've done so much for Elena, but nowhere near as much as she's done for me... </em>
  <span>thought Naomi, looking at herself again. </span>
  <em>What does she even see in me? She's kind and sweet enough to see the best in everyone, but what makes me so special?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She then imagined herself in a beautiful wedding dress, standing next to Elena... saying their vows as their loved ones looked on... she imagined Elena holding her hands, looking so beautiful in a gorgeous red wedding gown, a shimmering crown on her head... and as much as Naomi didn't think it could ever be, she wanted so desperately to believe it could.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>She does love me. She's said it herself, so much... she's always made me feel like someone special...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Still trembling as she clutched the box with the ring inside, Naomi stood up and faced her own reflection, determined not to let another day go by without letting Elena know how she truly felt. Maybe she'd be rejected, but she had to know if Elena was willing to marry her, and if she didn't ask, she never would.</p><p> </p><p>Engagement ring in hand, Naomi left her chambers and made her way to the throne room. Fortunately, there was no one around to question her as she walked down the hallway... stopping to talk to anyone else might've made her even more nervous, and she was already nervous enough as it is. She pushed the doors to the throne room open, and went inside, approaching the throne.</p><p> </p><p>Only... the throne room was empty, save for one person. The queen was missing, but her cousin Esteban was waiting inside with a stack of papers.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, chancellor Naomi!” said Esteban, walking toward her.</p><p> </p><p>“Esteban?” Naomi said nervously, quickly tucking the ring box into her pocket. “What are you doing here?”</p><p> </p><p>“I came to discuss some architectural matters with the queen, but alas, she is in her chambers and requests not to be disturbed,” said Esteban, who looked somewhat impatient as he continued to clutch his papers. “She said that she's thinking about something and would need a few minutes, but it's been half an hour, and I have been standing here with these papers like a fool!”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, you don't need those papers to look like a fool, Esteban,” said Naomi, snickering.</p><p> </p><p>“Why... you...!”</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, sorry, I couldn't resist, you just look funny when you're all huffy like that,” said Naomi. “Relax, I'm not here to pick on you. I was just looking for Elena, I wonder why she's shut herself up in her room...”</p><p> </p><p>“You know her better than anyone, you tell me!” said Esteban, calming down somewhat but still frustrated with the queen's absence.</p><p> </p><p>“You're her cousin, you know her way better than I do,” said Naomi. “You've known her way longer, anyway...”</p><p> </p><p>“This is true, but you, you are her chancellor... and her companion,” replied Esteban. “You and the queen are almost inseparable... though it is easy to see why she is so fond of you, despite your occasional rudeness.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, is that so?” asked Naomi, leaning in slightly. “Surprised to hear you say that, considering that you once said my voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I... may have exaggerated my discomfort with you to some degree,” said Esteban, looking a bit embarrassed that Naomi brought up some of his old insults. “To tell you the truth, I may have been a bit... jealous of how close you and Elena were becoming. When Elena and I were little... before Shuriki came along, she and I were the best of friends... and then, through my own actions, I ruined everything. I took a lot of that out on you, but I suppose that I was also angry with myself... I blamed myself for losing Elena as a best friend, and resented you for taking my place.”</p><p> </p><p>“...really?” said Naomi, surprised to hear Esteban confessing those sentiments to her. “But I could never take your place. You're her cousin, you're family...”</p><p> </p><p>“And you are something even more,” said Esteban. “Naomi, from the moment you and Elena met, it was as if you had known each other your entire lives. You complimented everything about her, your boldness and her caution, your humility and her pride, your sincerity and her tact... so different, yet so very similar. And you... you would never have made the terrible mistake I did. You would have seen Shuriki for the terrible evil she was... if you had been in my position back then, Elena's parents would still be alive.”</p><p> </p><p>“Esteban, you can't possibly know that,” said Naomi, reaching to comfort him. Esteban smiled and waved his hand dismissively.</p><p> </p><p>“It is all right, I have been able to move on thanks to Elena's forgiveness... but it's true, Naomi. You have been a far better protector to Elena than I have, and it is because of you that the kingdom of Avalor is still here today.”</p><p> </p><p>“You saved Avalor too, you know...” said Naomi. Refusing to take no for an answer, she leaned forward and hugged Esteban tightly, suddenly feeling a lot better about proposing to Elena now that she'd heard his encouraging words. “And you've been like family to me... even if you did try to turn me into a stuffed suit back at my quinceanara...”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, well... I suppose it was wrong to try and change you... Elena certainly likes you just the way you are,” said Esteban.</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” replied Naomi. She parted from Esteban, then kissed him quickly on the cheek. “Thanks again.”</p><p> </p><p>“...for what?” asked Esteban as Naomi briskly walked out of the throne room.</p><p> </p><p>“For everything!” she shouted back at him.</p><p> </p><p>“...even for trying to turn you into a stuffed suit?”</p><p> </p><p>“Not for that!”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi almost ran down the hall toward Elena's chambers... she knew Esteban said the queen didn't want to be bothered, but she hoped that Elena would make time for her... especially considering what she had to say. When she stood in front of the door, she took a long, deep breath, reaching her hand into her pocket to take out the box, but deciding to leave it there until she was actually on her knees popping the question.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Okay, Naomi. You've got this.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi opened the door, letting herself into Elena's room. She could see Elena nervously pacing back and forth, talking quickly to herself, and wondered what could possibly have the queen so uptight.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena?”</p><p> </p><p>Elena practically screamed with surprise, and turned toward Naomi. The queen was dressed in her casual royal dress, bright red and ornately decorated with flowers and golden braid, though also somewhat functional, stopping just above the knees to allow for natural movement. She was blushing bright red as Naomi walked up to her, and trying to compose herself by wiping the sweat from her brow with her gloved hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi...” said Elena softly, still nervous but managing a friendly smile. “Did you need to see me about something?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, yeah, actually-” Naomi started before Elena pressed a finger to her lips to shush her.</p><p> </p><p>“Hold that thought!” replied Elena. She was unusually jumpy, and her unsettled demeanor brought back some of Naomi's nervousness, though as Elena lowered her hand, she just looked at her, wondering why the queen could possibly be so unsettled.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay...” Naomi finally said, as Elena took a deep breath and started shaking wildly. “Are you all right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I'm... just fine, really....” Elena stammered, taking another deep breath and exhaling loudly. “....Naomi, did you hear any of the things I said just now? Uh, before you entered the room?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, I was just in the throne room, you told Esteban-”</p><p> </p><p>“Esteban!” shouted Elena. “I completely forgot about Esteban, he wanted to talk about those permits and I just completely ghosted him! Naomi, did you talk to him at all?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, we talked about-”</p><p> </p><p>“The permits?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, we talked about...”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi sighed. Clearly, it wasn't a good time... Elena was completely out of sorts about something, probably a brand new crisis in the kingdom, and now definitely wouldn't be the time for any sort of marriage proposal. A look of disappointment appeared on her face, but part of her was relieved... she didn't want to pop the question if the answer was going to be no, and from how Elena was acting, the answer would definitely be no. She watched as Elena walked toward the door and reached for the knob, and she began to walk toward her.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Guess we're both coming back to the throne room to talk to Esteban. Guess it's just another boring day in the palace... guess I'll ask Elena some other time.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Elena began to turn the knob... then Naomi saw her take another long, deep breath, and stop.</p><p> </p><p>“...no,” said Elena to herself, before quickly turning back around, walking around Naomi and reaching for something in the small chest on a drawer next to her bed. She stayed at that drawer for a few seconds, while Naomi just watched her. Elena was shaking... trembling, her legs seemingly barely able to support her.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena...? Are you okay?” asked Naomi, genuinely worried about the woman she loved, and wanting to say something to make her feel better. “I'm here, Elena, if something's bothering you...”</p><p> </p><p>Elena walked toward Naomi with her hands clasped in front of her, concealing something. Naomi just stood there, watching her as she walked right up to her and looked into her eyes... a tear sliding down her cheek. Seeing that tear made Naomi instantly feel sad, as if there was an empathetic connection between the two of them... but as Naomi started to speak, Elena spoke first.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi... there's something I need to know right now.”</p><p> </p><p>And then, Elena did something that Naomi never expected to ever see her do.</p><p> </p><p>Elena went down to one knee.</p><p> </p><p>She unclasped her hands, and in them was a small white fabric box... and when she opened the box, there was a simple golden ring, decorated with an aqua blue sapphire.</p><p> </p><p>Naomi recognized the ring immediately. It was the wedding ring of Elena's mother Lucia... the only thing that had survived the spell Shuriki used to kill Elena's parents.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Elena told me about her mother's ring... after Shuriki's spell, Esteban rushed to pick it up, and locked it in the safest vault in the kingdom... and after the coronation, he took Elena to where it had been kept... Elena cherished that ring as the last object left from her mother... and now... and now....!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi... will you marry me?”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi was shocked into speechlessness, and her mind flooded with emotion. She immediately raised both hands to her mouth, and let out an incomprehensible gasp, as her eyes flooded with tears. Her entire body shook, her chest burned with emotion, her stomach began roiling again, and her eyes were unable to stop the rivers of tears that flowed from them. Tears began to streak down the sides of Naomi's face as the overwhelming emotion of the moment washed over her... she didn't know what to say. There was nothing to say.</p><p> </p><p>Nothing to say except...</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” gasped Naomi, still barely able to speak without sobbing. “Of course I will.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena took the ring out of its box, her hand trembling as it moved toward Naomi's. Naomi's own hand was trembling as well, and the queen could barely fit the ring onto her chancellor's finger, both of them were shaking so much.</p><p> </p><p>“Elena...” whispered Naomi, blinking back another stream of tears. “This is your mother's wedding ring...”</p><p> </p><p>“When I was a little girl,” said Elena, having to blink back tears herself, “my mother told me how much she wanted me to find love... it didn't have to be romantic, just someone to spend my life with, like she had found my father. Six years ago, I found you... at first, I was happy that I'd found a best friend, and I had no idea that you'd be anything else. But then, after we got to know each other... went on adventures together, saved Avalor together, saved each other... I knew... I knew I loved you as more than my best friend. I knew you were the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and rule alongside. We've been together for a while now, and I know for sure... I want to be your wife, and I want you to be mine. Naomi... I love you.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi looked down at the ring on her finger, knowing that besides Queen Lucia, she would be the only one to ever wear it. The jewel was beautiful, but the sentiment even more so, and Naomi could barely stop to think about it without crying. She smiled again, wiping more tears away, and gently removed the glove from Elena's hand before taking the ring box out of her own pocket and opening it up.</p><p> </p><p>“Believe it or not, I was going to ask you the same thing,” said Naomi, removing the ring from its box as Elena held out her hand. “I guess great minds really do think alike.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena giggled, her smile beaming as Naomi placed the ring on her finger.</p><p> </p><p>“It's a beautiful pearl,” said Elena, admiring her new engagement ring. “Where did you get it?”</p><p> </p><p>“Fished it out of the ocean myself,” Naomi replied. “It's actually a little plain... kinda like me, the girl from the port, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>Elena's smile softened, and she gently placed her hand on Naomi's cheek.</p><p> </p><p>“You're the most beautiful person in the Everrealm,” said Elena. “And this is the most precious pearl in the sea.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi's face was flushed with joy, and as her mind began to race with thoughts of her wedding to Elena and all the things they were going to do together, she felt Elena's hands clasp hers once more, their rings touching as they held each other's hands tightly.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm so glad I met you, Naomi... and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Elena... I love you so much... this is the happiest moment of my life...”</p><p> </p><p>As Naomi began to once again collapse into an emotional heap, Elena pulled her close and passionately kissed her on the lips. Naomi reached around and embraced Elena tightly, hands clasped behind her new fiance's neck as the two of them continued to hold each other and kiss tenderly, their lips caressing, their eyes closed to enjoy the warmth of each other's presence. The kiss continued for some time, until the two finally collapsed from the weight of it all, falling onto Elena's bed still locked in each other's arms. As they opened their eyes, looking sweetly at each other, they leaned in and kissed again, and Naomi's hands began to slide down from Elena's neck, resting in the small of her back and continuing to tenderly caress her. The two just nuzzled together for a few more moments, overwhelmed with emotion, looking deeply into each other's eyes as they rested and tried to recover.</p><p> </p><p>“I was so nervous about proposing to you... guess it turns out you were just as nervous proposing to me, huh?” asked Naomi, wondering just what Elena had to be so nervous about... after all, she was the queen of Avalor.</p><p> </p><p>“Naomi, believe it or not, I've always looked up to you... you're so brave, and your instincts are so sharp, and... to be honest, I was worried that you'd think I'd keep you tied down, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>“Elena, I already agreed to be your chancellor. Besides, I already tried seeing the world... it wasn't the same without you. It never could be. I'd rather be here in Avalor with you than anywhere else in the world without you. Even if I never got to leave this palace, as long as I have you, I'm right where I want to be.”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi reached up and stroked Elena's face, and Elena took Naomi's hand and began to kiss it over and over again, making Naomi blush and moan.</p><p> </p><p>“Fortunately, I get to travel the world and be with you,” said Naomi. “The best of both worlds... an adventure with you by my side.”</p><p> </p><p>“My hero,” said Elena, continuing to kiss Naomi's hand as Naomi wrapped her other arm around the queen's back, pulling them even closer together.</p><p> </p><p>“My queen,” replied Naomi, enjoying every second of the embrace, looking once more at her hand adorned with Lucia's ring, and hoping that someday the spirits would be kind enough to allow her to meet Elena's parents, if only to thank them for bringing the woman she loved into the world. “I love you.”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Te amo</em>,” replied Elena, resting in Naomi's arms and nuzzling her tenderly.</p><p> </p><p>The two continued to rest in each other's arms, knowing that soon, they'd have to go back, back to the throne room, to Esteban and the business of ruling Avalor.They knew there would be more boring paperwork, more meetings, more business... but for now, and for the next few minutes, their whole world was that room, that bed, each other's arms... and they were more than content to enjoy every second they could, even as they imagined the many years of happiness to come.</p><p> </p><p>O-O-O</p><p> </p><p>The next morning, as the people of Avalor gathered in the courtyard of the palace for what the queen had said was a 'major announcement', many in the crowd wondered what it could possibly be. Some, like Naomi's parents, already knew. Elena's sister Isabel also knew... she was the first and only person Elena had told, and she was overjoyed at the news. She wanted to scream it out to everyone, though Elena made her promise not to say a word until the next morning, not even to Gabe or Mateo. Elena had told her grandparents next, and they were incredibly happy for her, with Luisa volunteering immediately to cater the wedding. Elena and Naomi both suspected that Esteban knew, though he was nice enough to play dumb when the two returned to go over those permits with him, and didn't say a thing about the lipstick marks on Naomi's neck, or about Elena's badly ruffled dress.</p><p> </p><p>The assembled crowd murmured with anticipation as Elena stepped out onto the balcony to address her people. She still looked a bit nervous as she addressed them, mostly because she was on the verge of screaming with joy and she wanted to maintain some measure of decorum.</p><p> </p><p>“People of Avalor,” said Elena, looking down into the crowd to see some familiar faces. Gabe and Mateo were there, of course, with Gabe standing next to his new girlfriend, the pirate captain Alma, and Mateo snuggling up with Carla, who was slightly more physically affectionate than he was, her arm around his shoulder. Isabel was at the front of the crowd, giddy with anticipation, ready to cheer and scream for an announcement she already knew. “These past few years have been some of the most difficult that Avalor has ever known. Our kingdom has been through a great ordeal, but thanks to the strength of all of you, we have come out stronger and happier than ever. I have never been prouder to be your queen, and I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the hard work and bravery of all the people of Avalor.”</p><p> </p><p>The crowd cheered, thanking Elena and shouting words of encouragement to her.</p><p> </p><p>“During this time, I've been able to lean on my friends and loved ones, and their strength has carried me through the many ordeals and adventures I've experienced. One person in particular has been my best friend during everything, and you all know this brave and selfless woman as the chancellor of Avalor, Naomi Turner.”</p><p> </p><p>The crowd cheered again, with Gabe and Mateo both shouting 'go Naomi!', and Naomi's parents cheering the loudest of all, as they too knew exactly what was coming up. As the crowd cheered, Elena looked back behind the balcony, to see Naomi standing in the shadows, hidden from view, wearing a beautiful aqua blue dress and blushing all over her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you ready?” Elena asked her.</p><p> </p><p>“Always,” Naomi replied, giving Elena a look of love and admiration that made the queen's heart flutter and all her nervousness fade away. “I'm ready for anything, thanks to you.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena then turned to face the crowd once more.</p><p> </p><p>“And I've come to realize something as well in these past few months... Naomi is my best friend, and my most trusted adviser, but she's also something else... she's the inspiration that makes every day a new adventure. She's the person who gives me the strength to carry all of Avalor's burdens on my shoulders. ...she's the hero who's saved my life more times than I can count.”</p><p> </p><p>As Elena spoke, Gabe and Mateo quickly realized what Elena was about to announce. Of course, they knew Elena and Naomi had been dating, but didn't think their relationship had progressed that quickly, and Gabe let out a loud cheer as Elena got ready to make her feelings known to the entire kingdom.</p><p> </p><p>“She's the woman I love, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. And that's why I'm happy to announce on this day... my betrothal to the future princess of Avalor, Naomi Turner!”</p><p> </p><p>Naomi stepped out onto the balcony to the most thunderous roar of applause she'd heard in her entire life. Thousands of people cheering with joy at the news that she was to be wedded to their queen... to rule at her side for the rest of their lives, sharing the throne and sharing their love. Elena met her, and took her hand, and leaned in, kissing her tenderly... but as Naomi heard those cheers and the loud yelling of her overjoyed parents, a feeling of pure passion came over her, and she dipped the queen in her arms, lowering her for a much more passionate kiss. The crowd gasped at first, then roared even louder, especially when Elena reciprocated the kiss and wrapped her arms tightly around her new fiance.</p><p> </p><p>“Woooo!” cheered Isabel, jumping up and down and cheering excitedly. “Go Elena! Go Naomi!”</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, it is just like the day we became betrothed...” said Luisa, sniffling and wiping a tear from her eye. “Don't you remember, Francisco?”</p><p> </p><p>“I remember it perfectly,” said Francisco, smiling and kissing his beloved wife on the cheek. “There wasn't quite this many people, but it was beautiful all the same.”</p><p> </p><p>“Y'know, I kinda knew all along,” said Gabe, crossing his arms over his chest.</p><p> </p><p>“Even when you guys were dating?” asked Mateo, leaning in.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, I saw how excited you got when you thought me and Naomi were a thing... cleared the way for you and Elena.”</p><p> </p><p>Mateo blushed, remembering his old crush on the queen. He still had one, to some extent, though once he realized his feelings for Carla, he was happy to leave his feelings for Elena in the past, no longer wondering how it might've worked out between them. Things seemed to have worked out just fine for everyone, and as he felt Carla's sweet embrace, and even her lips on his cheek, he knew that someday he'd be just as happy as Elena and Naomi were, and right now, he was happy to see two of his best friends locked in each other's arms, making out in front of the whole kingdom.</p><p> </p><p>“Ha!” shouted Carla excitedly, smooching Mateo again before watching Elena and Naomi's balcony kiss and pointing at them, deciding to have a bit of fun at their expense for old times' sake. “Get a room, you two!”</p><p> </p><p>Carla then let out a squeak as she felt her father's hand clamp over her mouth, silencing any further taunts from the violet-eyed girl.</p><p> </p><p>“Behave yourself, Carla!” said Victor, as his daughter glared sharply at him.</p><p> </p><p>“What does she mean by 'get a room'?” asked Ixlan. “Palace has plenty of rooms, and they already own them, do they not?”</p><p> </p><p>Antonia, standing next to Ixlan, rolled her eyes before pulling her girlfriend close for a quick kiss and whispering something into her ear. Ixlan's eyes widened, and then she looked at Carla.</p><p> </p><p>“That comment was very inappropriate! You should feel great shame!” said Ixlan sternly, prompted a muffled growl from Carla and a snicker from Mateo.</p><p> </p><p>Elena and Naomi continued to kiss for a few more seconds before parting, keeping one arm around the other and using the other to wave to the cheering people. They basked in the kingdom's love while basking in each other's, and while Naomi mostly looked at her parents, Elena looked down at Isabel. Though Isabel was the first to learn that Elena had been successful in asking Naomi for her hand in marriage, Elena had told Isabel beforehand... in particular, asking her if it would be a good idea to give Naomi their mother's ring. That ring was as much Isabel's as it was Elena's, and Elena still remembered what Naomi had said to her before leaving her alone in her room.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I love Naomi too, </em>
  <span>Isabel had told her. </span>
  <em>She's almost as much a sister to me as you are, and I want her to be a part of our family.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Elena looked up to the sky, thinking of her parents... her mother and her father, and the memories she had of them.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>They would have loved you too, </em>
  <span>thought Elena. </span>
  <em>And one day, I'm going to take you to the Spirit World so you can meet them. You can't see the spirits like I can, but I'll find a way to make it possible... and if I can't, I'll take you to meet them when we're both spirits ourselves. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Naomi shed a tear as her parents' faces said it all... they were so proud of their daughter, and were ready to welcome Elena into their family as well. Naomi then turned to Elena, and nuzzled her cheek against Elena's face, whispering softly into her ear.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you,” Naomi whispered. “Thank you for letting me be part of your life.”</p><p> </p><p>Elena held Naomi close, whispering back to her.</p><p> </p><p>“You are my life,” whispered Elena. Naomi, touched beyond words, kissed Elena again, and closed her eyes as Elena returned the kiss, the cheers of the gathered people drowned in the echoes of Elena's kindness as Naomi remembered every single compliment the queen had ever given her.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I am someone special... because I found you.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The greatest dream, the greatest magic, the greatest adventure... love, the purest love the kingdom of Avalor had ever known. A love that had already saved Avalor, and would save it many times in the future. Forever and ever, never to part even in death, the queen Elena and her hero Naomi, the flower and the wind, locked in a timeless embrace, floating on the skies of eternity.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><div class="children module" id="children">
  <b class="heading">Works inspired by this one:</b>
  <ul>
    <li>
        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29142207">The Intoxicating Allure of Steam Power and the Future of Avalor</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/lefemmerouge/pseuds/lefemmerouge">lefemmerouge</a>
    </li>
  </ul>
</div></div></div>
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